Fresh off its 3-0 at Poland, the U.S. men’s national team faces an ambitious schedule of friendlies as it prepares for the start of 2010 World Cup qualifying this summer. After playing England May 28 at Wembley and Spain June 4 in Santander, Coach Bob Bradley‘s men host Argentina June 8 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Argentina is currently No. 1 in the FIFA World Ranking , ahead of Brazil, Italy, Spain and Germany. The USA is ranked No. 28.
[MLS] The new season starts off without its newest team, as San Jose — and the New York Red Bulls – don’t commence league play until next weekend, but the slate includes a rematch of MLS Cup 2007. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney previews Week 1 games.
“It’s only been three and a half months and the injury’s supposed to be six months, so I am definitely ahead of schedule. I’m not going to rush anything – I’m going to take it day by day. … If I’m able to play by late April, early May, that’s fantastic. I’m aiming for that because I’ve been out for so long.”
— U.S. national team winger DaMarcus Beasley, who suffered severe knee ligament damage playing with Glasgow Rangers in November and couldn’t walk for five weeks after surgery in December. (The Herald)
MLS opens its 13th season with six games this weekend. Fox Soccer Channel kicks off its 35-match package with a live five-hour broadcast — including its first doubleheader (New England-Houston and Colorado-Los Angeles). The telecast begins with a half-hour pregame show at 7 p.m. ET. For all the weekend MLS action on TV …
Wilbur Avataria is a good soccer player. He’s been in touch with a dozen or so college coaches, visited a handful of those schools, and scored a stunning goal at Dallas Cup. Recruiting is moving along pretty well for him. But there’s one glaring exception: he has no idea how serious any of these coaches are about having him on their teams.
According to Spanish daily La Marca, Barcelona has given up hope of retaining Ronaldinho past this summer. At a Tuesday night board meeting, the Brazilian’s future was top of the agenda, and it was agreed that the player would leave the club at the end of the season. According to the Spanish paper, Barca’s directors […]
An Associated Press report confirms Liverpool co-owner George Gillett as the member of an investment group that would bring Major League Soccer to Montreal. Joey Saputo, the president and owner of USL first division club Montreal Impact, tells the AP: “I can confirm that we are in discussions with Gillett Entertainment Group as well as […]
The Houston Chronicle’s Bernardo Fallas thinks the time is right for the Dynamo to add a designated player. With Joseph Ngwenya and Nate Jaqua now gone, the team is still missing a forward. And since the Dynamo’s new owners want to reach the city’s Hispanic community, Fallas thinks they should aim for a player with […]
In the past, it often happened that MLS clubs would sign big-name stars in the twilight of their careers who would come to the States looking for a golden retirement. Lothar Matthaeus and Youri Djorkaeff come to mind. L.A. Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas, who signed David Beckham last year, says he knows the […]
France might have won the match, but it was all about David Beckham at the Stade de France last night, as the England legend became just the fifth player in his country’s history to reach 100 caps. Beckham started the match and played 63 minutes before leaving to a standing ovation in front of 78,500 […]
[MLS COUNTDOWN] Only three Western Conference teams qualified for the playoffs last year and only one made it through the first round, but again it was Houston that went all the way and repeated as MLS Cup champion. Counting Kansas City’s triumph in 2000 before it changed conferences, seven of the last eight titles have been won by western teams. The Dynamo has lost a few players from last year’s squad, yet faced the same situation in 2007 and still prevailed.
[POLAND-USA GRADES] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 3-0 win on Wednesday.
There are times when the Beautiful Game is anything but beautiful, when conditions are treacherous and play is choppy and gritty efficiency is preferred to golazos and glitter. Teams such as Poland take pride in the toughness and determination and exploitation of set plays required in such situations, yet it came a distant second to a competent, cohesive U.S. squad Wednesday in Krakow.
“He is in the style of Ronaldo at that age. They both like to get involved and try to do what you tell them. You have to give players like that room to be creative. I don’t think he is a normal talent. There are some people that can make a big difference and he is one of those players.”
— Brazil coach Dunga on 18-year-old Pato, who scored the winner against Sweden on Wednesday with a curling shot from near the sideline. (AFP)
Late goals from strikers Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Klaas Jan Huntelaar gave the Netherlands a 4-3 win over Euro ’08 co-host Austria, which had led, 3-0, after 35 minutes. A David Villa goal in the 78th minute gave Spain a 1-0 win over world champion Italy. Greece, which beat Euro 2004 host Portugal twice en route to the title, again got the better of the Portuguese when it won, 2-1, thanks to a pair of goals by Georgos Karagounis. AC Milan teenager Alexandre Pato scored on his debut for Brazil in a 1-0 win over Sweden. For all Wednesday’s results and goal scorers …
[MAKING A LIST] David Beckham became only the fifth England player to earn 100 caps when he started in England’s 1-0 loss at France on Wednesday. The next player in line to reach 100 caps is Michael Owen, who played his 89th game for England on Wednesday. By contrast, 10 Americans have 100 or more caps, and Landon Donovan will join the century club when he plays his next game for the USA.
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Dwayne Stanford‘s goal in the 69th minute gave Barbados a 1-0 win over Dominica and set up a date with the USA in June in a home-and-home series in 2010 World Cup qualifying.
Major League Soccer’s national networks — ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol, HDNet and TeleFutura — will combine to broadcast 113 games in 2008. The 2008 season kicks off Saturday, and regular season ends on Oct. 26.
Here are numerical rosters by position with each players’ career MLS statistics and schedules for all seven MLS Western Conference teams.
The image of Graham Poll handing out three yellow cards to the same player at the 2006 World Cup sticks in the mind as emblematic of English referees. Totally confused.
Few would contest that the quality of play in MLS has improved markedly since the league’s inception 13 years ago, but FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow thinks the league has improved so much that, “I genuinely believe we are at the stage now where the top sides could survive in the English Premiership.” And while […]
Three days after pronouncing his team’s loss to the USL’s Charleston Battery as “the worst performance I’ve ever seen,” Toronto FC coach John Carver reassured fans that he wouldn’t be heading for the exit anytime soon. “I’m not here for the short term. I’m here to build something,” Carver tells the Toronto Sun. The former […]
It may be a long shot, but the Seattle Post Intelligencer’s Matthew Gaschk reports that “Seattle Sounders” isn’t dead yet as one of the possibilities for naming Major League Soccer’s new expansion team. On Tuesday, the names Seattle FC, Seattle Alliance and Seattle Republic were announced as the options for the online ballot that will […]
All eyes will be on the MLS Cup 2007 rematch between the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution when league play opens this weekend, but the Houston Chronicle’s Bernardo Fallas says that Houston could be forgiven for looking beyond Saturday’s match-up toward next Wednesday’s Champions Cup semifinal first leg against Saprissa of Costa Rica. Indeed, […]
In an interview with ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle, U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley discusses how to manage the plight of regular national team players not getting sufficient playing time with their respective club teams. In the case of Fulham’s Carlos Bocanegra, the U.S. captain, and Benny Feilhaber of Derby County, Carlisle says the situation “is […]
