David Beckham celebrated his return to the England national team with an assist on a patented cross as England played to a 1-1 tie with Brazil Friday in the first full international match at the new Wembley Stadium.
The return of Beckham 10 months after being dropped from the England team by Coach Steve McClaren was the highlight of a subdued game that saw both goals come in the second half.
An African Nations Cup qualifier played as a symbol of the new peace in Ivory Coast was overshadowed by tragedy at two other venues. Twenty-two people, most of them Togolese sports officials returning from an African Nations Cup qualifier, were killed when a passenger helicopter exploded and crashed on Sunday at Sierra Leone’s main international airport. The crash came a day after a stampede killed 12 people and injured more than 40 as fans left a stadium in the Zambian copper mining town of Chililabombwe, where Zambia had just beaten Congo, 3-0, in a key Group 11 match. For complete African Nations Cup qualifying results …
A goal by Ruben Ramirez with three minutes remaining in the game gave struggling Colon to a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors on Sunday and left San Lorenzo on the brink of Argentina’s Torneo Clausura title. San Lorenzo tied Argentinos Juniors, 1-1, on the road on Saturday and now has a four-point lead with two games to play. It has not won an Argentine title since 2001.
So much for Scandinavian calm! A wild Euro ’08 qualifier between Scandinavian neighbors Denmark and Sweden ended in confusion as the game was abandoned in the 89th minute when a fan attacked German referee Herbert Fandel after he awarded the visiting Swedes a penalty when Dane Christian Poulsen punched Markus Rosenberg in the penalty area. Fandel didn’t see the incident but awarded the penalty kick and red carded Poulsen after consulting his assistant. Before the Swedes could take the penalty to break the 3-3 tie, a fan attacked the German referee, who also handled the UEFA Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool. Several Danish players stepped in between the attacker and Fandel, who immediately blew the whistle and walked off the field. The fan, only identified as a 23-year-old man from Ostebro, was arrested.
[EURO ’08 QUALIFYING WRAPUP] Filippo Inzaghi, the hero of AC Milan’s recent UEFA Champions League triumph, saved world champion Italy from embarrassment as his two first-half goals were barely enough to give the Azzurri a 2-1 victory over the Faeroe Islands in Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifier. The win was good enough to move Italy into second place in Group B behind France, which beat Ukraine 2-0, but the Azzurri came in for harsh criticism in the Italian press. For complete Euro ’08 qualifying results and goalscorers …
The U.S. U-20s are sure making its hard for Coach Thomas Rongen to make his final selections for the Under-20 World Cup, which begins later this month. With a lineup featuring several players on the bubble, the USA crushed Canada, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at Ottawa’s Frank Clair Stadium, a U-20 World Cup venue. Andre Akpan, Preston Zimmerman, Johann Smith and Sal Zizzo all scored for the USA, which concludes its two-game trip to Canada with a rematch Wednesday in Kingston.
[USL RESULTS] The USL-1 top-of-the-table clash between first-place Vancouver and second-place Montreal ended in a 0-0 tie on Friday. The Whitecaps maintained their three-point lead over the unbeaten Impact with the tie in a game played before 12,103 spectators at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. For complete USL-1 and USL-2 results and goalscorers …
Wake Forest-bound Corben Bone heads the 2007 Parade All-America High School Boys Soccer Team. Bone has starred for Dallas club Solar since 2001. Solar teammates Cameron Brown (who will attend North Carolina) and Kaoru Forbess (a junior who moved to the Dallas area from Arkansas) are also Parade All-Americans. For the complete 2007 Parade All-America High School Boys Soccer Team …
Four U.S.-based collegians remain in contention for berths on host Canada’s team for the Under-20 World Cup, which will begin later this month in six Canadian cities. Forwards Tosaint Ricketts (Wisconsin-Green Bay) and Alex Elliott (Portland) and defender Michael D’Agostino (Kentucky) were among the players named for Canada’s two-game series against the U.S. U-20s June 3-6. Goalie David Monsalve spent part of the 2006 season with NAIA power Mobile.Canada invited 21 players to the two-game series.
Kerri Hanks, the 2006 Soccer America Women’s Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy winner, scored to give the U.S. under-21 women’s national team a 1-1 tie with German Second Division club TuS Cologne. Hanks had also scored in a 5-2 win over Essen-Schonebeck two days earlier. The U-21s opened with a 4-1 win over Gutersloh.
A college team has qualified for the first round of the 2007 U.S. Open Cup. Brigham Young University, which plays in the amateur PDL, hosts the California Victory of the USL-1 on June 14 in a first-round match at BYU South Stadium. With nine returning starters, the Cougars are expected to challenge for the PDL’s Northwest Division title. Going into Friday’s game at Ogden, BYU is in first place with a 4-1-0 record. The Cougars clinched their Open Cup berth with a 3-1 win at the Spokane Spiders last Saturday.
The transfer season is only just underway, but there’s already been a flurry of activity, much of it involving Bayern Munich. As expected, center midfielder Owen Hargreaves completed his switch to English champion Manchester United. The German giant responded by adding 30-year-old Luca Toni of Fiorentina to its strike force. Later, Claudio Pizarro, who was […]
An unprecedented nine soccer players appear in this year’s Sports Illustrated’s International 20 list of the top earning non-American athletes. And while European-based soccer players don’t tend to earn as much as the best players in sports like tennis, auto racing or MotoGP, past performance and image seem to count more than current achievement, when […]
Thursday’s Deloitte report on the finances of English soccer also revealed the vast amount clubs pay agents for player transactions. Last year, English clubs paid agents nearly $100 million in commissions, up approximately $20 million from the previous year. Upon reading the report, FIFA President Sepp Blatter called agents’ compensation-which can be over 10 percent-“immoral,” […]
Chicago Fire President John Guppy showed up at the press conference beaming, after Chilean legend Marcelo Salas completed his first highly publicized workout with the Chicago Fire on Thursday. The 32-year-old Salas accepted an invitation from Guppy to train with the Fire with the possibility of securing a contract. ”He’s obviously in good shape,” Guppy […]
Several countries in Latin America are protesting FIFA’s decision to ban games at altitudes above 2,500 meters or 8,200 feet above sea level. In Bolivia, where the capital La Paz sits at nearly 12,000 feet, President Evo Morales said the ban was “not only a ruling against Bolivia, but against the universality of sport.” Said […]
[TV PREVIEW] An clash of two of the Eastern Conference leaders and a Texas showdown in the West highlight the ninth week of MLS play. A few teams have already lost players to international duty and many more will join the U.S. team on Monday, so this will be the last chance for coaches to field their strongest squads for quite a while.
The USA’s friendly on Saturday against China in San Jose (8 pm ET/5 pm PT, live on ESPN2 and Galavision) will be its final warmup before this summer’s Gold Cup and Copa America. The Chinese are prepping for the Asian Cup in July, and will also meet the Los Angeles Galaxy (June 5) and Colorado Rapids (June 10) on their U.S. tour. On May 16, China fell 1-0 to Thailand in what was its first loss to a Southeast Asian team in nearly two decades — a defeat that almost got Coach Zhu Guanghu fired.
The rebuilding of Brazil continues when it faces England at Wembley on Friday in a key test before the Copa America later this month. Coach Dunga’s squad for Friday’s game should include superstars Ronaldinho and Kaka, who have both asked not to go to Venezuela for the Copa America. Kaka and Ronaldinho are expected to play behind Vagner Love and Robinho of Real Madrid in the Brazil attack at Wembley. Jo could start for Robinho, giving Brazil a strike force of players based at Russian club CSKA Moscow. Gilberto Silva was outstanding in midfield for Arsenal and should join Elano of Ukraine club Shakhtar Donetsk as holding midfielders behind Ronaldinho and Kaka against England
“It’s fair to say that Las Vegas is a market that’s interesting to us. We think it would be very supportive of professional soccer, so it’s a market we’re looking at.”
— MLS President Mark Abbott after the Las Vegas Sports & Entertainment Group said it is ready to wire a $35 million expansion fee to the league. Group president Mark Noorzai says he’s assembled a financial group worth several billion dollars and plans include a $500 million retractable-roof stadium, an adjacent hotel and casino, practice fields and other amenities on 200 acres. (Las Vegas Sun)
Panamanian striker Blas Perez led unfancied Colombian club Cucuta to a stunning 3-1 victory over Argentina’s Boca Juniors in the first leg of their Libertadores Cup semifinal series on Thursday.
Perez scored two spectacular goals to the delight of a sellout crowd of 45,000 fans at the General Santander Stadium. Gremio beat Brazilian rival Santos 2-0 in the first leg of the other semifinal on Wednesday.
[TV PREVIEW] Saturday is a key day for powers Italy, Spain and Portugal, who are all fighting to stay in contention in Euro 2008 qualifying. Unfortunately, they find themselves depleted of firepower at the end of a long season. Italy is fourth in Group B with 10 points, two points behind leaders Ukraine, Scotland and France, and it will be missing many key strikers for its trip to the Faeroe Islands on Saturday and Lithuania on Wednesday. Spain is third in Group F, four points behind leaders Northern Ireland and three behind Sweden, and also has problems up front. With Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres injured, uncapped Osasuna striker Roberto Soldado may start up front with David Villa against Latvia on Saturday. Portugal is second in Group A, five points behind Poland, going into its game at Belgium on Saturday, but Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is suspended and Benfica attackers Simao Sabrosa and Nuno Gomes are injured. The biggest clash takes place at the Stade de France, where 2006 World Cup runner-up France hosts quarterfinalist Ukraine. Both teams will be without their scoring aces. Nicolas Anelka should fill in for Thierry Henry, out with a groin injury, in the Bleus’ attack. Andriy Voronin will be the main Ukraine threat in the absence of Andriy Shevchenko, who underwent hernia surgery last month.
[U.S. CLUB SOCCER CHAMPIONS] Regional champions were crowned in U.S. Club Soccer’s boys and girls U-12-U-17 age groups on Memorial Day in LaGrangeville, N.Y. and Jacksonville, Fla., respectively. For a complete list of the winners …
[TV PREVIEW] David Beckham will play for England for the first time since being dropped nearly a year ago by Coach Steve McClaren on Friday when England faces Brazil in a friendly game at Wembley Stadium. Some experts will argue that more important than the return of Beckham is the comeback of Michael Owen, who is set to start for England for the first time since suffering a knee injury at the 2006 World Cup that sidelined him for most of the EPL season.
Get an early start to your weekend soccer viewing with England’s friendly against Brazil (3 pm ET on Fox). Friday night’s USL’s game (Fox) is an all-Canadian affair. MLS action on Saturday overlaps with the USA’s friendly against China. Setanta USA and Fox Soccer Channel provide broadcasts of European Championship qualifying on Saturday.
