Monthly Archives: July 2007

Iraq reached the Asian Cup final for the first time with a 4-3 win in a shootout over the Koreans and will met Saudi Arabia in all-Arab clash. The Saudis ended Japan’s dreams of a third straight title with a 3-2 win in Hanoi.

Argentine international Juan Sebastian Veron, whose name had been linked to D.C. United a few weeks ago, surfaced this week as a possible acquisition by Chivas USA.

David Beckham has made his debut and the SuperLiga has kicked off amid spectacle and controversy, yet MLS league play rolls right along sparking off its own fireworks. Houston and New England shared six goals and Kansas City split four goals with Colorado Sunday in high-scoring ties, and the return of Thursday night league action with New York hosting Chivas USA finds a team that can’t lose at home visiting the team whose search for a new home has been roiled with problems for most of this decade.

Right winger Sal Zizzo signed a three-year contract with German club Hannover, becoming the first member of the U.S. U-20 national team to sign a contract with a European club since the end of the U-20 World Cup in Canada, where it fell in the quarterfinals.

Slammers FC and the Dallas Texans Red both won two games on the opening day of play in the girls divisions at the US Youth Soccer National Championship. Carmel United split a pair of girls games.

The Dallas Texans Red quickly wrapped their much-awaited showdown with the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays in McGuire Cup action on the opening day of the US Youth Soccer National Championships, scoring twice on goals by Bahram Sajjadi and North Carolina’s Billy Dworsky in the first 26 minutes and winning, 2-0. Arsenal FC began its quest for its fourth national title in as many years with a 2-1 win over Atlanta Fire United in the U-18 boys division, while Real So Cal U-16 boys began their bid for a third straight national championship with a 1-0 win over the FC Delco Hammerheads.

With four games in the books the SuperLiga ledger reads: two MLS wins, two ties, eight goals, two ejections, 98 shots, and 63,405 fans. Well, it’s a start. A good one. Not perfect, but good. On the second night of competition Wednesday, defending MLS champion Houston beat Club America, 1-0, and Morelia rallied while a man down to tie D.C. United, 1-1.

Two suicide car bombs went off near Iraqi fans celebrating Iraq’s victory over South Korea in the semifinals of the Asian Cup. One bomb killed 30 and wounding 75 in Baghdad’s Mansour area. Another attack at an army checkpoint in east Baghdad killed another 20 people and wounded 60, many of them soccer fans celebrating nearby.

ESPN’s telecast of David Beckham‘s debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy against Chelsea on July 21 was the most-viewed telecast involving an MLS team on ESPN or ESPN2. An average of 947,000 million television homes (1,468,000 viewers 2 and older) watched the World Series of Football game for a 1.0 rating.

The U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships begin Wednesday at Pizza Hut Park, home of FC Dallas, in Frisco, Texas. For the complete boys and girls schedule …

[UNDER-14 GIRLS PREVIEW] Sting Royal from the Dallas area club that was girls soccer’s first national power heads the field at the US Youth Soccer National Championships July 25-29 in Frisco, Texas.

[UNDER-15 GIRLS PREVIEW] Ela joins national girls powers from PDA, the Dallas Texans and So Cal Blues at the National Championships.

[UNDER-16 GIRLS PREVIEW] The Dallas Texans and Michigan Hawks meet in both the U-16 and U-17 girls divisions at the US Youth Soccer National Championships.

[UNDER-17 GIRLS PREVIEW] Long-time girls powers from the Dallas Texans and Michigan Hawks are joined by the former national champion Eagles and the Richmond Strikers at the National Championships in Frisco, Texas.