Monthly Archives: June 2007
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

FIFA to reconsider La Paz altitude ban

by Soccer America

Bolivian President Evo Morales looks to have won the day in his fight to get FIFA to relent on its ban on World Cup qualifiers taking place at high altitude.

A day after FIFA’s executive committee modified the ban — raised from 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) to 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) — FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he will reconsider a ban on high altitude matches, noting that it was “not a scientific or medical decision, it is a sports political decision.” Blatter’s remarks followed a meeting on Thursday with Morales, who has objected to the ban on qualifiers in La Paz, situated at 3,600 meters (11,800) above sea level.

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Castillo Shocks Brazil

by Soccer America

Nery Castillo was absolutely everywhere on Wednesday night as Mexico upstaged Brazil 2-0 in Venezuela, catapulting El Tri to first place in Group B and within touching distance of the Copa America second round. Castillo scored perhaps the best goal of the tournament so far receiving a great chipped pass from Juan Carlos Chaco, which […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Keller the Big Veteran in Venezuela

by Soccer America

As headlines like “Be Very Afraid” (SI.com) float around the Internet describing Argentina’s expected trouncing of the United States’ inexperienced American Copa America squad, one man will be carrying nearly all the weight of experience on his big shoulders tonight: goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who talks with the L.A. Times’ Grahame L. Jones. “If anyone can […]

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

FIFA’s high-altitude tweak doesn’t help Bolivia

by Soccer America

FIFA eased up on its ban on high-altitude games, raising the limit to 3,000 meters from 2,500 while applying the ban only to World Cup qualifiers. But Bolivia, whose president Evo Morales [photos] led the campaign against the ban, won’t be able to play in its capital, La Paz (3,600 meters above sea level). Brazil suffered its first ever World Cup qualifying loss in La Paz 14 years ago. Further defeats in the Andean highlands by Argentina and Brazil, which have seats on FIFA’s executive committee, prompted the ban.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Michigan Hawks-Wolves pounce at Region II youth finals

by Soccer America

[REGION II YOUTH CHAMPIONS] Teams from the Michigan Hawks-Wolves club won four titles on Wednesday on the final day of the US Youth Soccer Region II Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Two boys (Wolves) and two girls (Hawks) teams won championship matches. In the U-15 boys final, Sonny Saad scored four goals to lead the Wolves past the archrival Vardarstars. Another team from Michigan, the Bloomfield Force, will send its U-18 girls team to US Youth Soccer National Championships to be played July 24-29 in Frisco, Texas. Carmel United of Indiana won two girls titles. The NFC Bluejays defeated Ohio’s Internationals, 3-0, in the U-18 boys final to become only the second team from Nebraska to advance to the national championships.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Underdog USA brings some bite to Copa

by Ridge Mahoney

The much-maligned roster taken by Coach Bob Bradley to the Copa America is designed for long-term benefit, not short-term results. With 15 of the 22 players chosen based in MLS, and many eligible to compete as U-23 players in the Olympic soccer tournament next year, getting out of the group is a realistic, if difficult, task. It is not the main objective. Yet failure to do so, with two of the three third-place teams advancing, would be a disappointment. They need a win and a tie, plain and simple. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney rates the U.S. squad, position by position …

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Mexico stuns Brazil with spectacular goals from Castillo and Morales

by Paul Kennedy

After losing to the USA at the Gold Cup, Brazil looked downright easy. Mexico got spectacular goals from striker Nery Castillo and midfielder Ramon Morales midway through the first half and held off a second-half onslaught to earn a 2-0 win over the defending champion in their opening Group B game Tuesday. In the other Group B opener, Chile twice came from one-goal deficits on goals by Humberto Suazo, then got a goal from substitute Carlos Villanueva on an 87th-minute free kick to beat Ecuador, 3-2.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

U.S. SOCCER ACADEMY: ‘No. 1’ Chicago Magic takes new challenge

by Mike Woitalla

[CLUB PROFILE SERIES] The Chicago Magic, which for the last three years has occupied the No. 1 spot in Soccer America Magazine’s Top 20 Best Boys Youth Clubs, is among the first clubs accepted for the inaugural season of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy this fall. The Magic rose to national prominence under Mike “Matko” Matkovich, who remains Director of Coaching while serving as assistant coach of Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC. Famous Magic alumni include Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, a member the USA’s Copa America squad, who joined the Magic at age 10. For more on the Magic story …

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Argentina leads with Messi and the Monsters

by Paul Kennedy

Alfio Basile knows something about winning at the Copa America. He coached Argentina at the South American championship twice, and it won both times, in 1991 and 1993. He is downplaying, however, any comparisons between those teams and his current team that opens play in Group C against the USA on Thursday in Maracaibo, saying it will be difficult to play at the level of those teams. But with a team that includes Lionel Messi and Hernan Crespo in attack, Juan Roman Riquelme in midfield and Carlos Tevez probably on the bench, Argentina will be formidable.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

by Soccer America

“I’m a little small, but I’m fast, I like to get a touch of the ball, I like my left foot and I like to make things exciting. I’ll make runs and hopefully my style of soccer will suit the fans, and I can repay them for all the good things they’ve been saying about me so far.”

— DaMarcus Beasley, the 5-foot-8, 145-pound U.S. midfielder, upon signing with Scottish power Glasgow Rangers. (Ticker)

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

OFF THE POST: Soccer mom goes on rampage

by Mike Woitalla

During a girls game in Norway, a mother stormed the field, attacked a 13-year-old player, pushing her to the ground. She swore at several other players and put the referee into a stranglehold before being restrained, reports the Aftenposten. “The referee was completely shaken and the players were crying,” said Tor Eriksen of the Bardufoss regional sports association.

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Red Bulls to Revamp Defense?

by Soccer America

The New York Red Bulls, porous at the back over the last few weeks, have taken the first of what The North Jersey Herald’s Ives Galarcep says could be a series of moves to shake up its “faltering defense” by trading left-back Todd Dunivant to Toronto FC in exchange for Kevin Goldthwaite. You’d think the […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Beasley Confirmed at Rangers

by Soccer America

As expected, American winger DaMarcus Beasley has completed the switch from PSV Eindhoven to Glasgow Rangers, signing a three-year deal with the Scottish Premier League giant. Beasley was in Glasgow on Wednesday to put the finishing touches on the deal, which is now only subject to him receiving a work permit. The club said the […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Becks and Co. to Sell out RFK

by Soccer America

Tickets for D.C. United’s Aug. 9 match against David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy are on pace to sell out, according to the Washington Times. United officials on Tuesday said that approximately 30,000 tickets had been sold to season-ticket holders, groups and fans who purchased muti-game packages for the game, leaving 12,500 upper-deck seats for […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Copa America a Big Test for Mapp

by Soccer America

The American soccer press is largely disappointed at the squad Coach Bob Bradley has chosen to send to the 2007 Copa America; few expect the inexperienced side to make it past the group stage, and more than one reporter/columnist/blogger has already started cringing ahead of Thursday’s debut against a full-strength Argentina. Luis Arroyave of the […]

Posted inSoccer Business Insider, Story

A Naysayer View of Pro Soccer

by Soccer America

Beckham is coming to America to lend his enormous global brand power to pro soccer, to underscore that the game has arrived here, and to help the former colonists grasp the gravity of the sport. Although I am a lifelong player and coach, and passionate about soccer, I believe “Beck’s” arrival will have even less impact on the pro game than did Pele’s in his era.

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