New England’s Michael Parkhurst, 23, was named MLS’s Defender of the Year and the league’s individual Fair Play winner. Parkhurst, whose season included a 60-yard goal [VIDEO] against Toronto on his first attempt at goal in three MLS seasons, committed only five fouls in 25 regular-season games and received no cautions or red cards.
Monthly Archives: November 2007
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Knee surgery for Giuseppe Rossi
A day after scoring his seventh Spanish La Liga goal for Villarreal, New Jersey product Giuseppe Rossi underwent knee surgery to repair meniscus damage in his right knee. He is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OBITUARY: Nils Liedholm
Nils Liedholm, a legendary figure in both Swedish and Italian soccer, died Monday at the age of 85. Liedholm helped Sweden win the gold medal in the 1948 Olympics in London — the first international soccer competition after World War II — and moved a year later to Italy, where he would spend the rest of his life.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
UEFA Champions League TV Schedule
Six of Tuesday’s eight UEFA Champions League games will be available on cable or via pay-per-view on U.S. television.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Marta stays put in Sweden — for now
If the new U.S. women’s pro league scheduled to launch in 2009 is to have any chance of getting off the ground, an essential first step is to sign the great young Marta, who scored two goals against the USA in Brazil’s 4-0 win in the semifinals of the 2007 Women’s World Cup. According to Swedish newspaper Expressen, Marta, who’s been dubbed the Pele of women’s soccer for her extraordinary skills and scoring ability, was offered the equivalent of 7 million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million) for seven seasons by AEG to play for its Los Angeles team in the proposed league, but she re-signed with her Swedish club, Umea, for the 2008 season.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Women’s World Cup: Top 10 Stories
1 The long road to respect Women’s soccer has come a long way in the last half century since the DFB, the powerful governing body of German soccer, attempted to ban a group of women from forming a national league in 1955. “Irreparable damage” would come to their bodies and “the public display of their […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
MLS: Rating the All-Rookie XI
Fueled by the new Designated Player rule and an influx of foreign players, competition for roster spots forced rookies into the toughest situation of any group coming to MLS out of college since its launch in 1996. Several players who emerged started more than 20 games and played invaluable roles in their first seasons. The […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
U.S. Abroad-Castillo: From New Mexico to Old Mexico
How a small-town U.S. boy ended up on the Mexican national team. Even when Edgar Castillo was only 4 years old, he watched soccer games on television. “He’d come over to our house to play with my boys,” says Linda Lara. “If I turned on the television for a soccer game, Edgar would start watching. […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Go Abroad, Young Man?
Interest from foreign clubs in teenage American players is at an all-time high and an increasing number of youngsters are considering leaving their homes to pursue their soccer dreams aboard. One day Francisco Lletget noticed something slightly odd about the way his son, Sebastian, was eating breakfast, so he approached and took a closer look. […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
U.S. Abroad: Decision Time for Rossi
The name of American-born Giuseppe Rossi has arisen once again as U.S. head coach Bob Bradley scours the globe for players to restock his player pool. Rossi’s career is steaming along as he scores goals for Spanish club Villarreal and the Italian under-21 team, for which he may play next year in the Olympic Games. […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
MLS Newcomers Boost Profile
Only five Designated Players were signed in 2007 to varying degrees of success, yet many teams acquired players by more traditional means who have contributed greatly in their first MLS seasons. The tale is told in MLS offices of how skittish were Chicago Fire officials to herald the arrival of Mexican icon Cuauhtemoc Blanco in […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Josef Schulz Takes Dutch-Brazilian Approach
Worldwide search for player gold mine led Austrian Josef Schulz to South Florida. Josef Schulz once spent two years traveling the world scouting young soccer talent. But on this day, nine years ago, he was just taking a walk with his wife, Barbara, in their Boca Raton, Fla., neighborhood. They stopped to watch a pickup […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
United-Arsenal Spectacle’s Global Reach
The occasion of Manchester United playing Arsenal is as suitable a yardstick as any to measure soccer’s burgeoning globalization: Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says the game — which he notes was generously placed at Saturday’s early time slot to correspond with late evening primetime viewing in Asia — is reported to have […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Revolution-Fire Preview
Many critics decry the tentative, defensive soccer on display so far in this year’s MLS playoffs, but Boston Globe writer Frank Dell’Apa says Thursday’s Eastern Conference final between the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution is perfectly poised. New England has the history, having beaten the Fire in all five of their playoff contests at […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Caution’s the Word for MLS Conference Finals
It’s not the job of the sports press to “big up” Major League Soccer’s Eastern and Western Conference finals, says Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers, “which is just as well, because I can’t think of much to recommend them.” Taking a look at the field, Plenderleith says that not a single one of the remaining four […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Yallop Leaves Galaxy for Quakes
Frank Yallop’s tenure with the L.A. Galaxy is over. He resigned as head coach just hours before the team left on a four-city tour of Minneapolis, Vancouver, Aucklund, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia. Various reports claim that Yallop will soon be named head coach of the revived San Jose Earthquakes. A former coach of the […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
On Saturday, defending champion Houston faces Kansas City for a spot in MLS Cup 07 against New England. Americans in England face tough competition as Fulham (Clint Dempsey & Carlos Bocanegra) travels to Liverpool on Saturday and Blackburn (Brad Friedel) plays at Manchester United on Sunday.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Division III Women’s Tournament Field
The NCAA announced the 60-team field for the 2007 NCAA Division III Women’s Tournament. (Fields for the NCAA Division II men and women and Division III men will be anncounced on Monday.)
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
‘Workmanlike’ Portland clinches first NCAA Tournament berth
Portland became the first team to clinch an automatic berth in the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament when it defeated Pepperdine, 2-0, Sunday in Malibu to clinch its ninth West Coast Conference title.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Texas loses star Logterman for season
Texas, ranked No. 11 in this week’s Soccer America Top 25, suffered a huge blow when Stephanie Logterman, whom Longhorns coach Chris Petrucelli called the best left back in the country, was lost for the remainder of the 2007 season due to a knee injury.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Alabama A&M has Duke’s number
John Rennie will be having nightmares about Alabama A&M for many years to come. A&M has been a nemesis for retiring Duke coach John Rennie dating back to his first years as the Blue Devil coach in the 1980s when A&M was a national power. The Bulldogs no longer have an impact program, but they beat Duke for the fourth time in five meetings with a 4-3 win on Sunday in Rennie’s final regular-season home game as Duke coach.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
UCSB shatters attendance record
Who says West Coast soccer doesn’t draw? For the second time in less than three weeks, defending men’s champion UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly shattered the Big West regular-season attendance record.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America Men’s Top 25
For the second time this season, Wake Forest reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25. The Demon Deacons have been No. 1 eight of the 10 weeks since the start of the regular season. Connecticut is No. 2, and Brown moved into the No. 3 spot, its highest ranking of the season. For the complete Top 25 …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America Men’s Top 25 Weekend Results
Santa Clara extended its unbeaten streak to 13 games with wins over San Diego (2-1) and Loyola Marymount (3-1). Only Virginia Tech (15 games), a 3-0 winner over N.C. State, has a longer unbeaten streak. Red-hot Saint Louis crushed St. Joseph’s (8-0) and Temple (5-0) in Atlantic-10 action to run its winning streak to five games. For all the Top 25 weekend results and goalscorers …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Women’s Conferences
Georgetown upset Connecticut, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. New Hampshire and Boston University moved into next Saturday’s America East final. Form held on the first day of play in the Horizon League and Mid-American, Missouri Valley and Southern Conferences. For all the results and goalscorers …