Chicago Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez has been voted the 2007 U.S. Soccer Foundation-MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Year. Gutierrez, 34, supports more than half-a-dozen organizations on a national, regional, and local level and has helped raise more than $1 million collectively for worthy causes in 2007. Gutierrez an active role in the fight against malaria, serving as a national spokesperson for the Nothing But Nets campaign.
Monthly Archives: November 2007
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Carlos Valderrama wigs out
Former Colombian star Carlos Valderrama, assistant coach of Atletico Junior, was ejected from a game against America of Cali for implying the referee had been bribed by waving cash in front of him after a penalty kick call. After the penalty kick provided a goal that helped end Junior’s playoff hopes, Valderrama, a former MLS star, rushed the field, waved a 50,000 peso ($25) bill, and swore at referee Oscar Julian Ruiz, who later said, “Carlos is my idol, but his behavior really surprised me.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OFF THE POST: Brazilian brawl reignites at airport
Players from Brazilian teams Atletico Paranaense and Gremio fought during and after Paranaense’s 2-0 win on Wednesday night, and the next day at the airport, delegations from the club brawled. Paranaense director Mario Cesar Petraglia said he was reading the newspaper while waiting for his flight to Sao Paulo when members of the Gremio relegation attacked him. He reportedly suffered a lost tooth and a swollen face. Gremio representatives, who were on their way to home to Porto Alegre, said Petraglia’s security men were involved in the fight.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Equipment manager killed by lightning in Italy
Antonio De Giorg, the 41-year-old equipment manager for Italian Serie B club Lecce, was killed after being struck by lightning at the end of a practice at the team’s stadium Thursday. He had collected equipment and was headed toward the locker room when he was struck.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
United burned by Fire yet again
In the end, the defensive frailty of D.C. United – not its ouchy attackers – knocked it tumbling out of the playoffs for the third straight season. A pair of preventable goals staked Chicago to a 2-0 lead at RFK Stadium, and a furious D.C. rally tied the game, 2-2, which for the Fire was good enough. A 1-0 win in its home leg Oct. 25 provided a 3-2 aggregate upset of the league’s top team during the regular season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Hobbling Chivas USA must overcome Wizards’ lead
Kansas City finished tied with Chicago for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, and can take heart from what the Fire did against top seed D.C. United,: Win at home, tie on the road, see you in Texas (against either Houston or Dallas). Kansas City takes a slim 1-0 edge to Home Depot Center and faces a Chivas USA whose forward tandem of Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo has been hit by injuries.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Red Bulls must overcome Revs’ home history
New England hosts New York as the Revs go for their sixth straight appearance in the conference final. The omens are stacked – if such a thing is possible – high against the Red Bulls, who played spiritedly yet somewhat disjointedly last Saturday in the Meadowlands and couldn’t break through against a determined midfield and defense. The Revs are 6-0-3 (14-5 goal differential) in playoff matches at Gillette Stadium since it opened in 2002, and they reached their first final that same season. New York hasn’t won at Gillette in more than five years, a span of 12 regular season and playoff games.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Will Dallas play Texas hold ’em?
The 1-0 first leg may have been decided by a rather fluky goal, but for much of the game FC Dallas bossed the midfield. To overcome that one-goal deficit Houston must take command in the middle third so Dwayne DeRosario can slice forward to take cracks at goal and thread through-balls, and Brian Mullan can provide quality service from the flanks.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
WEEKEND PREVIEW: International Soccer Headliners
The recent form of Arsenal and Manchester United has fans salivating about Saturday’s clash of EPL co-leaders at the Emirates Stadium. Tensions are high in Italy, where Juventus and Inter Milan meet Sunday for the first time since Juventus was relegated in 2006 and Inter was awarded Juve’s league title in the aftermath of the Calciopoli scandal. In Spain, Sevilla hosts La Liga leader Real Madrid in Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez‘s third tough test in a week since taking over as for Juande Ramos. In Germany, young Dutch star Rafael van der Vaart should be back in the lineup for Hamburg against Hertha Berlin amid renewed speculation of a move to Spanish club Valencia.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It’s very true that they were the best team all year, but over the last five or six games, we’ve been the best team in the league. There’s a little thing called the playoffs, and it matters who’s playing better at this particular time. And I don’t think it’s them.”
— Chicago Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez after his team’s 2-2 at D.C. United gave the Fire a 3-2 aggregate win and a place in the MLS semifinals. (Chicago Tribune)
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
United Searches for Playoff Form at Home
D.C. United may have one of MLS’s best records over the past four seasons, losing only 12 times, but its regular-season success has failed to translate to the playoffs over the last two years. Tonight, United is again faced with the prospect of its MLS Cup hopes ending at home as it hosts Chicago in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Chivas’ Galindo May Miss Game Two, Too
Chivas USA had a wonderful regular season, finishing first in MLS’ Western Conference, but L.A.’s other club faces mounting injury problems that could curtail its playoff challenge. Chivas is already without veteran forward Ante Razov due to a long-term injury, and now Maykel Galindo, the club’s top scorer during the regular season, looks set to […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Guzan, Parkhurst Claim MLS Awards
The first of Major League Soccer’s end of season awards is in, with Chivas USA’s Brad Guzan winning Goalkeeper of the Year, Michael Parkhurst of the New England Revolution taking home the MLS Fair Play award, and the Columbus Crew earning the MLS Team Fair Play award. The awards were voted on by members of […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
‘Roger Federer’ Slams Valencia
It’s a good thing for Bernd Schuster that Real Madrid absolutely demolished Valencia Wednesday, because prior to the match, the Real coach gave reporters a thorough tongue-lashing after it was suggested his team had been under-performing. Schuster told them he’d “love a job like yours where you get paid for insulting people, despite not having […]
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Utah to (finally) get an NCAA varsity men’s program
[NEW PROGRAM] Utah currently has no NCAA programs that sponsor varsity men’s soccer, but that should change when Division II Dixie State College adds a men’s soccer program in 2008.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Happy Halloween for Top 25 teams on the road
[TOP 25 ACTION] Nine of the 11 Top 25 men’s teams in action on Wednesday played on the road, and only No. 11 Michigan State returned home with a loss. The Spartans dropped their second straight 2-0 decision, falling at Cincinnati in non-conference action. No. 4 Brown, No. 6 Boston College, No. 9 Indiana, No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, No. 17 Duke and No. 19 West Virginia all won on the road.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
The Knee Freaking Crew
[OFF THE POST] Knee injuries are the scourge of women’s soccer. It’s rare to find a top women’s program that hasn’t had a player go down with a knee injury. At Division I Sacramento State, so many players have suffered knee injuries of one sort or another that they formed their own club.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Women’s Division I Statistical Leaders
Texas A&M senior Ashlee Pistorius is now the national leader in points and goals with two weeks remaining in the NCAA Women’s Division I regular season. For the Top 10 leaders in points, goals, assists and goals-against average …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Division I Women’s Wednesday Results
Two goals by Annie Phillips, her 16th and 17 of the season, gave Kennesaw State a 3-1 win over Mercer that clinched the Owls’ second straight Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season title. For all Wednesday’s scores …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Division I Men’s Wednesday Results
St. John’s moved into first place in the Big East’s Red Division thanks to a 3-1 win at Syracuse on Wednesday. Colombian transfer Omar Alfonso disappointed an Orange crowd of 1,049, the four largest at the SU Soccer Stadium, with two goals for St. John’s. Vermont stunned America East leader Binghamton, 2-0, thanks to quick goals by Jordan Crasilneck and T.J. Gore, leaving just two points between the top seven teams in the standings with one game to play. For all Wednesday’s scores …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Women’s Conferences
Tournament play begins Thursday in the Big East and America East. Villanova and Rutgers, both NCAA Tournament teams in 2006, may need wins to keep their 2007 postseason hopes alive. For this week’s women’s conference tournament schedules …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OFF THE POST: Player’s paycheck shows up on Internet
A copy of Liverpool midfielder John Arne Riise‘s paycheck stub has shown up on the Internet in several fan chat sites revealing his salary, home address, national insurance (tax and benefits) number and other personal details. Riise, who was declared bankrupt by Liverpool County Court for an unpaid debt of around $200,000, was paid $289,311 by Liverpool for a month’s work, according the paycheck stub.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Charlie Davies hits hat trick in Sweden
[VIDEO/AMERICANS ABROAD] Charlie Davies, the New Hampshire product who played college ball at Boston College through 2006, scored a hat trick in Hammarby IF’s last game of the season after going scoreless in the first 19 games of the season. Davies, who has been capped three times by the USA, was expected to be a high pick in the 2007 MLS draft but opted for a career abroad after Hammarby offered a reported $1 million-plus deal for four seasons.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
United doomed if demons prevail
[PLAYOFF PREVIEW] Halloween has come and gone, thus the curse must be broken. So go the hopes of D.C. United and its perplexed fans, who watched yet another playoff shutout inflicted by the Fire last Thursday, a 1-0 deficit that in normal circumstances scarcely would raise the blood pressure. D.C. scored 56 goals in the regular season and beat Chicago, 3-1, at RFK, June 16, so what’s the problem? Repeat that result and all will be well.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Adu scores his fourth Benfica goal
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Freddy Adu, three days after scoring his first league goal for Benfica, scored in his third straight cup game, but his team fell, 2-1, to Setubal and was eliminated with a 3-2 aggregate result. Adu, making his first start since joining Benfica this summer, struck from the penalty spot in the 45th minute. He was subbed with five minutes left. Benfica’s official Web site praised the 18-year-old’s overall performance.