Joan Laporta, president of famed Futbol Club Barcelona, is scheduled to lecture at Stanford University on Monday afternoon.
Monthly Archives: May 2007
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA looks to extent U-17 streaks
[MAKING A LIST] The USA can wrap a berth in the Under-17 World Cup for a record 12th straight time if it ties or beats host Jamaica Friday at CONCACAF’s Group B qualifying tournament or Canada and Trinidad & Tobago tie in the first game. The USA, which also faces group leader Costa Rica on Sunday, takes an 18-game unbeaten streak in CONCACAF qualifying into the weekend action.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
San Francisco soccer with ties to Spain
It’s not often that a major American city boasts a pro soccer team within its true borders. The New York Red Bulls play in New Jersey. FC Dallas is based in Frisco, the Los Angeles Galaxy in Carson and the Chicago Fire in Bridgeview. But San Francisco now has a USL-1 team, the California Victory, which will play at the edge of Golden Gate Park in Kezar Stadium, once home to the San Francisco 49ers. The man behind the Victory is Dmitry Piterman, who emigrated from Ukraine to the USA at age 15 in 1979, graduated from UC Berkeley (across the bay from San Francisco) and started accumulating a fortune in San Francisco area real estate. Three years ago, he bought Spanish club Deportivo Alaves while keeping his eyes on opportunities in the USA.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
American Hilgenbrinck scores winner in Chile
[VIDEO] Illinois product Chase Hilgenbrinck scored the gamewinner for Chilean First Division club Nublense in its 1-0 victory over O’Higgins, which hadn’t lost at home since April 2006 and had never lost to Nublense. Hilgenbrinck, who at Clemson University was teammates with Oguchi Onyewu, has started 13 of Nublense’s 14 games this season, mostly at left back until he was moved to left midfield to fill in for an injured player.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OFF THE POST: Witnesses vouch for miracle header
There were only 37 people in the stands when English amateur clubs Holker Old Boys clashed with Chadderton FC and nobody had a video camera. But eyewitnesses confirmed that Holker Old Boys’ captain Graham Capstick did indeed score with a header from 57 yards out. “I can honestly say that he scored with a header from inside his own half,” Holker right back David Robinson told the Evening Mail.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Sevilla faces Espanyol in all-Spanish UEFA Cup final
Defending champion Sevilla beat Spanish rival Osasuna, 2-0, and advanced, 2-1, on aggregate to the final of the UEFA Cup, where it will meet Espanyol in an all-Spanish clash May 16 in Glasgow. Espanyol beat Werder Bremen of Germany, 2-1, away to go through, 5-1, on aggregate in Thursday’s other semifinal.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Man. United has chance to clinch EPL title on Sunday
[TV PREVIEW] Manchester United and Chelsea must put aside the disappointment of being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League and refocus on the English Premier League race. A huge match takes place in Spain, where third-place Real Madrid hosts second-place Sevilla on Sunday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Milan Baros merely wanted to tell [Stephane M’Bia] something he didn’t know how to say in French: ‘leave me alone and give me breathing space.'”
— A statement from French club Lyon, claiming its Czech striker Milan Baros wasn’t trying to insult Rennes’ Stephane M’Bia when Baros pinched his own nose and waved his hand in front of it while facing the Cameroon-born midfielder. Baros has been suspended for three games for the gesture. (Reuters)
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Article 3350
On the menu for U.S. viewers this weekend are title contenders in England (Fox and Setanta), Germany (Gol TV) and Spain (Gol TV). Mexico’s last two playoff spots will be determined on Saturday (Galavision). MLS action kicks off with red-hot Kansas City hosting Columbus (Direct Kick Package).
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Yanks’ Nationals Need to Play Abroad
Kenya Brown of Yanks Abroad says the U.S. national team’s dominance of the CONCACAF region is getting a little tiresome. Notwithstanding the team’s respectable 3-0-1 record in international friendlies this year, these meaningless games are made all the more so by the fact that each of them has been played at home. In fact, the […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ferguson Blames Fatigue, but Defense Cost United
Sir Alex Ferguson was a little more gracious in defeat than Jose Mourinho after Manchester United followed Chelsea out of the Champions League, but excuses still had to be made and blame still had to be placed. For not the first time, Fergie blamed the English Premier League for its scheduling, which burned out his […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Milan “Miracle” a Vindication for Italian Soccer
Milan’s 3-0 victory over “the big man of English football” descended upon Italy Wednesday night like a holy vindication. Indeed, since the national team lifted the World Cup last July, Italian soccer has been through trying times, including a series of match-fixing scandals, poor attendance, the riots in Sicily and the resulting stadium bans and […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
‘Listless’ D.C. United Needs a Jolt Tonight
Even if D.C. United brings its “A game” to RFK Stadium Thursday night when it plays the New England Revolution (ESPN 2, Live 7 pm ET), the Screaming Eagles would be forgiven for wondering if that even makes their side the favorite anymore. The Revs are a team in good form (2-1-1), while United is […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Jason Kreis Retires, Becomes RSL Head Coach
Real Salt Lake Thursday afternoon announced a significant management reshuffling. Team captain Jason Kreis, the league’s all-time leading scorer, has now retired from the game and will take over as RSL head coach, effective immediately. Kreis is set to run Thursday’s practice in preparation for Saturday’s match at home to the league-leading New York Red […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Small-Sided Games: What’s all the fuss?
For quite a few years now US Youth Soccer, U.S. Soccer, AYSO and the NSCAA have advocated playing less than 11-a-side soccer for our younger players.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
D.C. hopes to get it right against Revs
[TV PREVIEW] Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney talked to New England coach Steve Nicol on the eve of the Revs’ Thursday night (ESPN2, 7 pm ET) clash with D.C. United, the preseason favorite that has lost its first three games.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
‘The biggest financial prize in world soccer’
A report by accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche says that the teams promoted this season from the English second tier to the English Premier League will be rewarded with up to $120 million, thanks to the EPL’s new TV deal. Birmingham City and Sunderland have already clinched promotion. Four other teams will play off for the remaining spot, which will be decided in a May 28 final at the new Wembley, a game the report called, “the biggest financial prize in world football.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Libertadores Cup win streak ends for Brazil’s Santos
Santos could have broken the Libertadores Cup record of eight straight wins it shares with Vasco da Gama by beating Caracas FC in Venezuela on Wednesday night but tied, 2-2. In a battle between the only two Argentine clubs left in the competition, Boca Juniors beat Velez Sarsfield even though Martin Palermo missed his second penalty kick in four days. Palermo is famous for missing three penalty kicks in one game while playing for Argentina against Colombia in 1999.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS goal dearth continues
Last season, MLS averaged 2.62 goals per game, its lowest besides the 2.61 its teams mustered in 2004. Fans are seeing even fewer goals in early going of the 2007 season. The first 26 games have an average of 2.27 goals. Kansas City leads the league in scoring, having notched nine goals in its first four games for a 2.25 average. New England’s Taylor Twellman leads the league in scoring with four strikes in four games, followed by Eddie Johnson, who’s notched three goals, which exceeds his output of the 2006 season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
AMERICANS ABROAD: Castillo and Orozco meet in Mexico ‘repechaje’
New Mexico product Edgar Castillo, 19, was a 55th-minute sub for Santos Laguna as it fell at home, 1-0, to San Luis in the first leg of the Mexican repechaje, the preliminary playoff round of the Clausura 2007. Californian Michael Orozco, 21, came on for San Luis in the 86th minute.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Goalkeeper follies in Scotland & Brazil
[VIDEO]. Aberdeen’s Darren Mackie scored without immediately realizing it in last Saturday’s Scottish Premier League 3-0 win over Kilmarnock because, while he was walking back down field, Kilmarnock keeper Alan Combe hurled the ball into the back of Mackie’s head, from which it rebounded 8 yards into the back of the net. Matching Combe’s in the super blunder was Cruzeiro goalie Fabio. After giving up the third goal in a 4-0 loss against in the Brazilian derby against Atletico Mineiro, Fabio was walking back to his goal area to fetch the ball. But his teammates had kicked off with a different ball. Fabio didn’t notice an Atletico player had intercepted the new ball until he saw the shot blaze past him and into the goal [VIDEO]. An angry Fabio then picked both balls out of the net.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“I thought I might do 45 minutes but ended up doing the full 90. It was quite a hot day but I felt OK at the end, and the next day I was able to do a bit of gardening in the greenhouse. Both teams acted like perfect gentlemen, and they just got on with it. They were very polite and respectful.”
— Antony Warren, an 82-year-old retired referee who was lured out of the stands at a Gwynedd League game in Wales to replace the assigned referee, who suffered a pregame injury. Warren borrowed referee gear and his 78-year-old wife kept time. (BBC)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OFF THE POST: World Cup sparked German baby boom
Germany has one of the world’s lowest birthrates (1.37 children per woman compared to about 2.1 in the USA). The German government’s recent efforts to promote procreation have included offering one-year paid maternity leave to working mothers. But the most effective population booster so far appears to have been hosting the 2006 World Cup: nine months later birthrates in parts of the country increased by nearly 30 percent compared to last year at the same time. The newborns have dubbed the “Klinsi Generation.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. U-17s beat Canada, 2-1, to edge closer to World Cup berth
The USA remained perfect at the CONCACAF Under-17 qualifying tournament in Kingston, Jamaica, with a 2-1 victory over Canada on Wednesday night, setting the stage for the possibility of clinching a berth at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup on Friday night.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Milan-Liverpool, championship ledger
AC Milan and Liverpool, who meet in the final of the UEFA Champions League on May 23 in Athens, have a long history of success in Europe. Before they met in the 2005 final, they had won a combined 11 European Cup titles in 14 appearances in the final. Milan’s six championships rank second behind only Real Madrid’s nine. Liverpool’s come-from-behind victory over Milan in Istanbul was the Reds’ fifth title in six appearances in the final.