Monthly Archives: September 2008

“When I can get everyone together…I think we’ve put down a benchmark on what we can actually achieve.” Following his team’s 1-1 tie with league-leaders Columbus, Toronto FC coach John Carver dreamily imagines the day when he’ll have his full roster available.

Kreis Doesn’t Get The Point

“Last week, we were disappointed with a point and this week, we would have been disappointed with a point. Now after not even getting one, it would have been decent to get it.” Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis juggles with the mathematics of disappointment after RSL’s 2-1 defeat to RB New York.

United ‘Confident’ That AIG Will Survive

Manchester United is confident that troubled insurance giant AIG will be able to continue fulfilling its $25 million-a-year sponsorship obligation to the team.

Beckham A Dud In Kansas City

“On the one hand, there was definitely a buzz about Beckham being in town,” writes Joe Posnanski. “On the other, to be brutally honest, he was an utter and complete non-factor in the game.”

Fox Soccer Channel To Be Rated By Nielsen

Fox Soccer Channel is to be rated by Nielsen starting next month, measuring how many people across the U.S watch the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and Saturday night’s Major League Soccer broadcast. FSC, which began as Fox Sports World in 1998, is currently available in more than 33 million homes. It was […]

‘Wild West’ EPL Attracts U.S. Owners

Why have so many wealthy Americans become attracted to the English Premier League? One of the main reasons, writes Joe Nocera, is because the league allows them to operate with more freedom. While soccer “is the most global sport with the greatest reach,” and while there is more money to be made out of […]

Ottawa Poised For MLS bid

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk will announce details Tuesday of his plans to build a new soccer stadium as he officially launches his bid to bring a Major League Soccer team to the city. A spokesperson declined to give details ahead of the scheduled press conference, except to say that Melnyk already has a […]

Edu Enjoys His Rangers’ Debut

The pace was faster than MLS, and Maurice Edu tired in the second half, but he still enjoyed his debut for league-leading Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Premier League Saturday, when his new side beat Kilmarnock 2-1. “The play in Scotland is far quicker to what I am used to in MLS,” Edu said. […]

Quakes-Dynamo Rivalry Heating Up

It’s taken a few months, but the tension between the San Jose Earthquakes and its Houston spin-off is really starting to heat up, writes Ann Killion. Saturday’s game at Buck Shaw Stadium showed that “what was once a lovefest is verging on a blood feud. And a good soccer rivalry.” “Most of the Houston […]

Soccer on TV., Story

Soccer on TV

CONCACAF Champions League, European Champions League and UEFA Cup games take place in the midweek. Columbus hosts New York in MLS’s Thursday night match.

POLLS: Soccer America Women’s Top 25

Notre Dame took over the top spot in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25. Three Pac-10 teams (No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Stanford and No. 5 USC) and one WCC team (No. 4 Portland) give the Top 25 a heavy West Coast influence. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 …

MORNING BRIEFING: Brown creates sensation

by Paul KennedySeptember 15, 2008

In his 32 years at Brown, Phil Pincince has enjoyed considerable success — 12 Ivy League titles, including nine in a row (1982-90) — but he has never had a weekend quite like the Bears had at the UConn Classic. First, Brown beat Big Ten powerhouse Penn State, 1-0, in overtime, then it tied No. 1 UCLA, 0-0.

CROWD COUNT: Carolina fans cheer overtime win

North Carolina drew the sixth largest crowd in its history as the Tar Heels came from behind to beat N.C. State, 2-1, in overtime in their ACC opener. For the top men’s crowds …

POLLS: Soccer America Men’s Top 25

Wake Forest solidified its hold as the No. 1 team in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 after last week’s No. 2 Creighton and No. 3 Akron both lost. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 …

MORNING BRIEFING: Youngsters power SMU

by Paul KennedySeptember 15, 2008

In the early going, the only suspense has been who will be No. 2 behind defending champion Wake Forest. SMU is the latest to claim the No. 2 spot after moving up three spots thanks to a pair of wins at its Prego’s Express Italian Invitational.

MLS Results

Columbus kept its first-place lead in the East while West leader Houston settled for a tie on the road. For all the weekend results, standings, leading goal scorers and schedules …

No Bradley-Cherundolo meeting in Hannover rout

[AMERICANS IN GERMANY] Hannover 96 scored its first goal of the season and routed newly promoted Borussia Moenchengladbach, 5-1. But Steven Cherundolo didn’t suit up for Hannover while Michael Bradley stayed on the Gladbach bench. Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic, with a header off a free kick, scored his third goal in four games this season.

Jozy Altidore makes La Liga debut

[AMERICAN IN SPAIN] Jozy Altidore, the 18-year-old forward who joined Villarreal in the summer, made his Spanish La Liga debut as a halftime sub in a 1-0 win over Deportivo Coruna. Altidore’s play drew praise from Spanish sports daily Marca, which said he was “a force off the bench who created much danger.”

Edu debuts for Glasgow Rangers

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Maurice Edu made his Scottish Premier League debut for Glasgow Rangers after practicing just twice with his new club. In England, where Americans are seeing little action this season, Tim Howard celebrated a win with Everton. For more on Americans in Britain, France and Belgium. …

More gloom for Galaxy; Moreno strikes again

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] The Los Angeles Galaxy reunited with David Beckham in Kansas City after his week away on England national team duty only to suffer yet another disappointment. D.C. United’s Jamie Moreno added to his goalscoring record. For the weekend’s highs and lows in MLS. …

Man. United desperately needs Ronaldo

[ENGLAND] Manchester United hoped to bring along rehabilitating Cristiano Ronaldo slowly, but the Red Devils may need him for next Sunday’s clash with Chelsea. Sir Alex Ferguson termed United’s performance “shocking” in it 2-1 loss at Liverpool on Saturday and increased the pressure on him to bring back Ronaldo as soon as possible to jumpstart United’s season.

Guardiola shakeup fails to stop Barca plunge

[SPAIN] Barcelona’s 1-1 tie with Racing Santander at home on Saturday left the Catalan giant with just one point in two games — marking its worst start in 35 years and leaving first-year coach Pep Guardiola in the hot seat.

Milan’s Ancelotti faces ax

[ITALY] Coach Carlo Ancelotti survived AC Milan’s failure to qualify for the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League, but he may not last much longer if the Rossoneri continue to underperform. With Kaka, Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko in the lineup, Milan lost, 2-0, at Genoa on Sunday for its second straight loss, which left it second from the bottom on Serie A.

Soccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

“I would say I was rational. A couple good words and a few bad words. They understood the message. We came back and it’s a credit to them. We played a really good second half.”

— New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio on his halftime speech as his team was trailing at home, 1-0, to Real Salt Lake. Juan Pablo Angel and Dave van den Bergh scored in the second half to earn the Bulls a 2-1 win. (New York Post)

O’Reilly leads USA to victory in Gold Tour opener