Monthly Archives: July 2007

Iraq achieved one of the most dramatic victories in the modern history of soccer when it won the Asian Cup for the first time, beating Saudi Arabia, 1-0, in Sunday’s final in Jakarta, Indonesia, and setting off wild celebrations back home in war-torn Iraq.

The Chicago Fire rolled to a 3-0 win in the MLS debut of Mexican attacker Cuauhtemoc Blanco and presented head coach Juan Carlos Osorio his first MLS victory. New England also won on the road, beating Real Salt Lake, 2-1. Spectacular goals by Kerry Zavagnin and Yuri Movsisyan propelled the Kansas City Wizards past Chivas USA, 3-2, and pushed them to within a point of the Eastern Conference lead now held by the Revs.

The defending champion Michigan Bucks moved into the semifinals of the Premier Development League, where they are joined by the 2006 runner-up Laredo Heat, Brooklyn Knights and Fresno Fuego.

The Atlanta Silverbacks stunned the host Minnesota Lightning, 5-2, to win the Central Conference championship victory. Seattle and Ottawa also won conference finals on the road to join Atlanta and host Rochester at next weekend’s W-League final four.

The Eagles of Southern California won their second title at the US Youth Soccer National Championships in three years when they beat the powerhouse Dallas Texans Red, 3-2, in the U-17 girls final on Sunday at at the Pizza Hut Park complex in Frisco, Texas. Four of the six finals were decided in overtime or on penalty kicks.

Complete results and goalscorers from the US Youth Soccer National Championships in Frisco, Texas.

The USL-1 league-leading Portland Timbers defeated England’s Preston North End 2-1 in an exhibition match in front of 8,238 at PGE Park on Saturday night. New signing Matt Taylor scored two second-half goals for the Portland Timbers. Preston North End suffered its third loss on its trip to the West Coast. The USL-2 playoff field is all set. Wins by Cleveland and Harrisburg put them in the playoffs; leader Richmond and Charlotte, which holds the tiebreaker over Crystal Palace Baltimore, complete the playoff field.

American Dan Califf scored in Danish club AaB Aalborg’s 2-1 win over Ghent that gave it a 3-2 victory over the Belgian club in the third round of the Intertoto Cup.

FC Indiana won its second Women’s Premier Soccer League title in three years when it beat the New England Mutiny, 3-0, in the final on Sunday in Tampa.

Host Brazil, fielding its full national team, defeated the U.S. under-20 national team, 5-0, in the gold-medal match at the 2007 Pan-American Games in front of almost 70,000 fans at the famed Maracana Stadium.

The Dallas Texans Red, seeking their third consecutive national title, avoided an upset in McGuire Cup action at the US Youth Soccer National Championships when Virginia star Jonathan Villanueva scored with four minutes left to give the Texans a 1-1 tie with the South San Jose/San Juan Ruckus. For a roundup of the major developments on Day 2 …

[MLS WEEKEND PREVIEWS] Reeling Real Salt Lake strives to get it right against the Revs; Mexican attacker Cuauhtemoc Blanco makes his American pro soccer league debut in Canada, and Kansas City hopes to stabilize its patchy home form against Chivas USA.

All four PDL conferences will hold their semifinals and finals this weekend. The Michigan Bucks (Central), Ocean City Barons (Eastern), Laredo Heat (Southern) and Fresno Fuego (Western) will be playing host to their respective four-team conference tournaments. The winners of the conference championships will advance to the PDL semifinals next weekend. The PDL championship, hosted by one of the two finalists, will be played on Aug. 11 and will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.

The W-League playoffs began on Wednesday with Jersey and Toronto both winning to move into the Eastern Conference semifinals in Ottawa on Saturday. W-League postseason action continues on Friday with the Western Conference final in Chula Vista, Calif., and the Central Conference semifinals in St. Paul, Minn. The three conference champions will join the W-League championship tournament host Rochester Rhinos in the W-League semifinals Aug. 3 to determine who will square off for the W-League title Aug. 5 at PAETEC Park. The W-League championship will air on Fox Soccer Channel at 5:30 pm ET.

[WOMEN’S WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN] He has three more games and a few more weeks before he must submit his list of players for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, yet head coach Greg Ryan finalized his roster last week by adding three players to an original list of 18. Forward Natasha Kai, midfielder Angela Hucles and defender Marion Dalmy got the nod. Kai and Dalmy are two of six World Cup players who have debuted for the national team since Ryan took over from April Heinrichs in March, 2005. Starting Saturday against Japan at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Ryan will tinker not with formations and systems, but with blocs of 11 players who he believes may earn starting slots in the World Cup.

Ante Razov and Sacha Kljestan scored as a smothering defense led by Jesse Marsch, Claudio Suarez and Jonathan Bornstein blanked Red Bull New York, 2-0, on Thursday night for only the second road win posted in 2007 by Chivas USA.

Former Penn State star Tiffany Weimer of Soccer Plus Connecticut, Mexican international Fatima Leyva of FC Indiana, Cindy Schofield of the Tampa Bay Elite, Brittany Cooper of the Albuquerque Lady Asylum and Chinese Ouying Zhang of the San Diego WFC Sealions won regional Player of the Year honors in the Women’s Premier Soccer League. For All-WPSL selections and individual awards …