The trend of recent results is good news for fans in several MLS cities, and a worrying development to those who follow the Galaxy.
Monthly Archives: August 2008
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Results
For all the weekends MLS results, scoring leaders and this week’s schedule.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
San Jose comes alive; D.C. gets a shutout
[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS/VIDEO] The Earthquakes won their fourth game of the season, adding to the woes of the Los Angeles Galaxy, now winless in seven games despite more goals from Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle. D.C. United’s defense had its best performance of the year. Kenny Cooper showed why Dallas is so reluctant to let him go. For the weekend’s MLS highlights …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It’s important for me to set a tone early in the game and I do that a lot of times by fouling. I find that that gets me going, gets the competitive juices flowing.”
— Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch describes his approach to the Beautiful Game before his team’s 1-0 loss to Chicago. (Daily Breeze)
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
SuperLiga: Another Boring Revs vs. Dynamo Final?
Don’t rely on anything in soccer. Whenever you think you’ve got the sport sorted out, it strikes back with a sly sucker punch that flattens your theories. Just one year ago, the SuperLiga was a success at every level — good games, good soccer, good crowds, good atmosphere — and a good USA vs. Mexico (Galaxy vs. Pachuca) final. This year, things have been rather different. For a start the Mexicans have not exactly covered themselves with glory. Both their semifinalists — Atlante and Pachuca — turned inexcusably nasty at the end of their games. There can be no excuse for the way their players behaved in the face of defeat.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USL-1 Results
The Charleston Battery got a pair of goals from Cuban Osvaldo Alonso to beat Vancouver, 2-0, on Sunday and move back into a tie with the Whitecaps for first place in the USL First Division. For all the results, goal scorers and standings …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. products get Mexico call-up; Friedel saves PK in Villa debut
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Sven-Goran Eriksson called up 20 players for his first training camp as Mexico’s national team coach, and they include New Mexico youth product Edgar Castillo and former California prep star Carlos Ochoa. In English preseason action, Brad Friedel made a sensational debut for Aston Villa, stopping a penalty kick in its 1-1 tie with Reading.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Pali Blues rally to win W-League Championship
Italian international Ilaria Pasqui took advantage of a mistake by former U.S. international keeper Kristen Luckenbill and scored into an empty net with diving header in the 88th minute to give the Pali Blues the 2008 W-League championship with a 2-1 win over the FC Indiana Lionesses.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
PDL Playoff Results
The defending champion Laredo Heat and Canada’s Thunder Bay Chill will meet in Saturday’s final of the Premier Development League (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 7:30 pm ET). The Heat disposed of the Reading Rage, 2-0, while the Chill beat the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency, 2-1, in the first-ever all-Canadian semifinals. For the semifinal results and goal scorers …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. men head to Tianjin in scoring slump
[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] The U.S. Olympic men’s team headed to China having gone scoreless in its last four games.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Image of SuperLiga Tainted
In a Q&A with comedian and Seattle Sounders FC minority owner Drew Carey, he was asked to describe SuperLiga in five words or less. He replied: “More Money for Mexican Owners,” which was clever and funny but not altogether accurate. The tournament is generating money for MLS and its marketing arm SUM, but is also reviving the ill feelings and poor sportsmanship seen before when Mexico’s national team loses to the USA.
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
In addition to plenty of MLS and Mexican league action this weekend, Spanish power Barcelona faces Chivas Guadalajara in a friendly in Chicago on Sunday. The Emirates Cup on GOL TV features powers from Italy, Germany, England and Spain.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter Clarifies ‘Slave’ Statement
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was misquoted in media reports citing him as calling Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo a “slave” in the midst of the tug-of-war for the Portuguese star between his EPL club and Real Madrid. “I have never said that Ronaldo is a slave,” Blatter said. “What I said is slavery […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Rooney Questioned About Spitting at Photographer
England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, 22, has been questioned by police after allegedly spitting at a photographer. “At 12:10 am on Wednesday we received a third-party allegation that a photographer had been spat at by an individual outside a restaurant in Hanway Street, W1,” a Metropolitan police spokesman said. “Officers established the incident […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Guzan Cleared To Play in EPL
U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who left MLS’s Chivas USA for Aston Villa, has been granted a work permit by UK’s Home Office. Now the 23-year-old’s only obstacle to getting on the field when he returns from Olympic duty is fellow American Brad Friedel, the 37-year-old veteran who was signed in the offseason from Blackburn. Friedel […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Now They Can Laugh About It
Craig Tornberg, general manager of the New England Revolution soccer team, who helped subdue a naked, threatening man when the team was flying from Boston to Los Angeles last month, talked about the incident and his 15 minutes of “superhero fame.” When Tornberg saw the nude made leaving the bathroom, he said he was shocked […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Bayern Munich’s Path to Enlightenment
Spiegel magazine takes a look how Juergen Klinsmann is starting his coaching tenure at Bayern Munich, which is by far Germany's most dominant club but hasn't had European success since its 2001 Champions League win. Among the characters in the in-depth piece are former Bayern greats Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, now in club management, […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Dynamo’s Waibel liable to receive NFL calls?
[MLS/VIDEO] The Houston Dynamo may have to fend off a few calls from NFL teams after defender Craig Waibel put on a field-goal show at the Houston Texans’ training center.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Fan sues after team banned from Champions League
[OFF THE POST] When CSKA Sofia won the Bulgarian league title last season, fans eagerly anticipated a Champions League qualifying campaign. But the Bulgarian soccer federation stripped it of that right when it was revealed the club owed money to the National Social Security Institute, National Revenue Agency, and a host of other lenders.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We have never been to Nigeria and it is an opportunity, although you could say it is partly financial of course.”
— Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson sheds light on his team’s preseason schedule, which included a 2-1 win over English FA Cup winner Portsmouth in Abuja, Nigeria. (BBC)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ma bad news for Chinese women
[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] Chinese star Ma Xiaoxu, dubbed the “female Wayne Rooney,” reinjured her left knee in a scrimmage against the USA on Wednesday in Qinhuangdao and will likely miss the Olympic women’s tournament that begins on Wednesday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Arsenal nets tidy profit on Spurs’ Bentley move
[TRANSFER TALK] Tottenham has completed the signing of England international David Bentley, whose move from Blackburn will net Spurs’ biggest rival, Arsenal, a tidy profit.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
W-League Playoff Results
The regular-season champion Pali Blues and the 2007 WPSL champion FC Indiana moved into Saturday’s W-League championship game (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, Saturday, 11 pm ET) with semifinal wins on Thursday in Virginia Beach, Va.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS’s Honor Roll
With about three months to go in Year 2 of the Designated Player, D.C. United and Kansas City are still waiting for Marcelo Gallardo and Claudio Lopez, respectively, to surpass their solid performances and attain the lofty heights attained last year by Juan Pablo Angel, who himself battled injuries for the first half of 2008. In Los Angeles, home of DP David Beckham and his “grandfathered” colleague, U.S. international Landon Donovan, the offense is sexy but the defense is sordid. On the other coast, New England has steadily chugged along without an injured Taylor Twellman and has added a prime Rookie of the Year candidate to its already deep squad. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney provides a rundown of MLS’s top players in 2008 so far, including a league Best XI …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS TV Schedule
Kansas City defends a six-game unbeaten streak (2-0-4) at D.C. United, which is tied with the Wizards in fourth place of the East. … Chicago will be without suspended Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Diego Gutierrez when it hosts Chivas USA. … Columbus travels to defending champ Houston. … San Jose host Sunday’s game against Los Angeles in Oakland, where 39,872 watched David Beckham and Co., against the Quakes in June. The Galaxy is 0-3-3 in its last six games and the Quakes are 0-3-4 in their last seven. … Also on Sunday, Toronto FC and FC Dallas meet for the first time this season. For all of this weekend’s MLS action on TV and the standings. …