“I don’t think I will live long enough to see our country crack it at international level — and, oh, how depressing is that?”
— Former England national team coach Graham Taylor, 63, making his point on England’s decline at the international level.
With the conclusion of the fall Development Academy season, four Southern California-based clubs were in action at the Polo Fields in Del Mar over the Thanksgiving weekend. For the results and highlights …
Region IV swept all three games in the 1991 division and won both games in the 1993 division at the U.S. Youth Soccer ODP Girls Thanksgiving Interregionals in Coral Springs, Fla. For all the results and goal scorers …
The U.S. U-15 girls national team won one game and lost two at last week’s U.S. Youth Soccer ODP Thanksgiving Interregional Tournament in Coral Springs, Fla.
Mike Woitalla reporting from South Africa
Is South Africa in danger of being the first World Cup host not to reach the second round? So disappointing have recent performances been that President Thabo Mbeki suggested changing the Bafana Bafana (Boys, Boys) nickname to something more intimidating. While there’s little chance of that, pressure is mounting on Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who during the World Cup Preliminary Draw explained the challenges he’s faced since taking the helm last February.
Ridge Mahoney keeps score of Game 1
How bad off is the Los Angeles Galaxy? The MLS team had no one to replace Edson Buddle, suffering from cramps, and finished Tuesday’s match against Sydney FC with nine players — Canadian Kevin Harmse was sent off with 13 minutes to play. No matter. Everyone went home happy: FC Sydney, the Galaxy and the 80,295 fans who came to see David Beckham.
Matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League concludes Wednesday. Six games are available live or on delay on cable or pay-per-view.
Barcelona, Roma, Inter Milan and Sevilla clinched berths in the second stage of the UEFA Champions League. The only spots that remain up for grabs in the groups that played on Tuesday are the second spots in Group E (Rangers or Lyon) and Group G (Fenerbahce or PSV).
Glasgow Rangers lost more than a chance to clinch a berth in the second stage of the UEFA Champions League when it fell to German champion VfB Stuttgart, 3-2, on Tuesday. The Scottish club lost its American star, DaMarcus Beasley, who injured his right knee in a violent collision early in the second half, and its manager, Walter Smith, conceded after the game that at the very least it would be without Beasley for the deciding match against French club Lyon on Dec. 12 in Glasgow. Pending results of a scan, Beasley himself feared a lengthy layoff with ligament damage.
It looks like the sun has finally set on Britain’s soccer empire: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland all failed to qualify for this summer’s European Championships in Austria and Switzerland. And with their collective failure, “British influence within soccer has dwindled to the point where it has become a national embarrassment,” says soccer […]
We have yet to see the best from Thierry Henry at Barcelona, although if you ask the former World Cup and European Championship winner, he would tell you that eight goals from 15 games isn’t all that bad. He’s right, you know, it’s a record most strikers would be proud of — but perhaps we’ve […]
The rumors are heating up about Real Madrid’s interest in New York Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore. In a Goal.com report, Altidore’s agent, Richard Motzkin, confirmed that the Spanish champion has sent representatives to meet with the youngster, who became eligible for a move to Europe when he turned 18 earlier this month. Just last […]
Major League Soccer Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis surprised the world on Tuesday by saying that the “real” story of the year in MLS was the league’s broadening ties with Latin America — and not the heralded arrival of former Real Madrid star David Beckham. “The actual story has been looking to South America and importing […]
Using business techniques can help your tournament create metrics of success
Of the 32 teams left in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament, none came from as far back as first-time entrant Central Connecticut State. After 12 games, the Blue Devils were 2-8-2 and going nowhere. But CCSU turned its season around and qualified (barely) for the Northeast Conference Tournament, which it won. With a starting lineup that included seven players from England and an eighth from the Isle of Man, CCSU did something it had not done all season. It scored as many as three goals and knocked off heavily favored Harvard, 3-2, to move into Wednesday’s second round.
Santa Clara, which won its second straight WCC title after posting an undefeated 10-0-2 mark in league play, swept the conference yearly awards. Senior Peter Lowry captured WCC Player of the Year honors, while Cameron Rast was named WCC Coach of the Year for the second straight season and the third time in his career. Senior defender Jamil Roberts was named WCC Defensive Player of the Year, and newcomer Jalil Anibaba received Freshman of the Year accolades.
Jamaican youth international O’Brian White has all but wrapped up the NCAA Division I men’s scoring titles in points (45 and counting) and goals (19) and Connecticut teammate Mike Pezza leads the nation with 16 assists.
Florida State’s Mami Yamaguchi leads the NCAA Division I women’s scoring charts with 62 points on 23 goals and 16 assists and has a shot at catching Texas A&M’s Ashlee Pistorius, who leads the nation with 25 goals, and Notre Dame’s Kerri Hanks, the assist leader with 18.
California lived up to its reputation as one of the best NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament hosts when it drew 3,479 fans Friday afternoon in Berkeley for its 2-1 win over UC Davis in their first-round game. A crowd of 2,034 turned out at Dartmouth’s new Burnham Field, one of the most fan-friendly facilities in New England, to watch the Big Green fall to Vermont in a doozy (penalty kicks in the first and last minutes followed by a shootout). SMU drew only 232 fans on a rainy evening to watch the Mustangs edge Gonzaga.
Paul Kennedy begins Women’s Elite 8 Countdown
Florida State’s Mami Yamaguchi leads the NCAA Division I women’s ranks in points (62) and is second in goals (23) and assists (16), but the Japanese international is only part of the story in the Seminoles’ return to the Elite Eight for the third straight year. Coach Mark Krikorian has lived up to his reputation as one of the nation’s top recruiters, bringing in five first-year players who have played key roles for Florida State, which hosts Connecticut in Friday’s quarterfinal.
UEFA Champions League play resumes Tuesday with Matchday 5. Six games are available live or delay on cable or pay-per-view.
“What is the real story of 2007 for MLS? The actual story has been looking to South America and importing players from South America who are very significant performers in our league.”
— MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis, speaking Monday at Soccerex in Johannesburg, insisting that David Beckham‘s arrival to big crowds and increased television ratings wasn’t the biggest event of the year in MLS.
After a brief stop in Beijing, China, for a promotional appearance, David Beckham rejoined his Galaxy teammates in Australia for an exhibition match against Sydney FC. All 80,000 tickets for Tuesday night’s game at the Telstra Stadium were sold. The giddiness swirling around Beckham’s visit prompted Galaxy assistant manager Tom Payne to say, “We could cancel playing in our league and go on a barnstoming tour around the world. Beckham’s presence is that great.”
Ridge Mahoney analyzes San Jose’s player moves
San Jose Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop already has more than half of his 18-man roster filled and nearly two-thirds of the salary cap to play with, as well as money from three allocations as an expansion team. What do you call that? A good start.
Assistant coach Oscar Pareja, a member of the FC Dallas coaching staff since retiring as a player two seasons ago, is leaving to work with the U.S. under-17 national team. Head coach Wilmer Cabrera, who was hired by U.S. Soccer last month, offered Pareja the position two weeks ago.
