If David Beckham goes to AC Milan on loan, Bruce Arena will have failed his first major test as Galaxy impresario.
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Lopez: U.S. Life Is Great
“We’ve been treated great out here. The fans are great, the U.S. is great and it’s been a great ride. We couldn’t ask for anything more. My family is happy here and I like playing in this league.” Kansas City Wizards’ Argentine midfielder Claudio Lopez dishes the gritty inside story on soccer life at a […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Reality-Based Open Tryouts In Seattle
The Seattle Sounders FC will host open tryouts in three Washington cities in November. Inevitably, the tryouts “will be filmed for a reality-based television show that will be shown in late January of 2009.” But if only the base is reality, what will the rest be? Fantasy footie on ice? Shaolin soccer from Spokane? The […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ronaldo: I Deserve Awards
“I feel calm. Two or three others deserve the Ballon d’Or. But if you evaluate what each one did over the course of the season I believe I did more than everyone else. What else do I have to do to win the Ballon d’Or and Fifa award?” Cristiano Ronaldo expects recognition of his achievements […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
QPR Sack Manager Dowie
Nouveau riche west London Championship side Queens Park Rangers has sacked manager Iain Dowie with the season just 12 games old. Its triumvirate of extremely rich owners had demanded Premier League soccer by noon Thursday, and Dowie had been unable to deliver due to the constrictions of time in the current dimension.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Arsenal Owners Must Have Club “In Their Blood”
Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood has repeated that the club's ownership will stay in the hands of those who have "Arsenal in their blood." He was addressing concerns from Arsenal supporters' groups that billionaire investors such as Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke and controversial Uzbek-Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who between them control around 36 percent of […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Scudamore Can’t Let Go Of The “39th Game”
The philosophy of English Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore with regard to his universally scorned plan to play a round of EPL games in foreign cities around the world is similar to that of a small child hankering after an unfeasibly expensive toy. He seems to figure that if he bangs on about it […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Mastroeni and Co. Starting To Feel Their Mortality
The clock is ticking for a number of the Colorado Rapids’ veterans, and as they approach Saturday’s Rocky Mountain Showdown (copyright all Denver- and Utah-based media) at home to Salt Lake, they’ve come over all philosophical about the passing of time, reports Brian Forbes. “You start to feel your mortality,” said Pablo Mastroeni, 32, who […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Fire Season Won’t End With New England Fall
The last three Chicago Fire seasons have ended “in the chilly November air at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.,” writes Nick Firchau. This year, at least, with the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New England Revolution being a road game, the Fire’s campaign can at the very worst only end in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Osorio: We Let Ourselves Down
Saturday’s 3-1 win over a weakened Columbus team proved to be a false dawn for RB New York as it crashed 5-2 to Chicago Thursday, and coach Juan Carlos Osorio was under no illusions about the merits of his side’s playoff-threatening performance. “After a performance like that, I have a very big question mark as […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
MLS rounds out the regular season this weekend and the final two playoff spots will be determined when Colorado hosts Real Salt Lake on Saturday and D.C. United travels to Columbus on Sunday. International league action includes a clash of English Premier League leaders Chelsea and Liverpool on Sunday.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MORNING BRIEFING: Camels are streaking
Campbell extended its winning streak to seven games — all in Atlantic Sun play — with a 3-0 win over Thursday at USC Upstate.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
AWARDS: 50th Anniversary NCAA Men’s Team named
Virginia had three players and Indiana and UCLA had players named to the NCAA Men’s Soccer 50th Anniversary Team.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
RISING STAR: USC’s Kristin Olsen
SOCCER AMERICA profiles USC goalkeeper Kristin Olsen. The Women of Troy face archrival UCLA Friday in their biggest match since last year’s Women’s College Cup at which they upset the Bruins in the semifinals en route to their first women’s soccer national championship. Olsen, now a junior, was a big part of USC’s success in 2007, earning Defensive MVP honors at the final four, and will be in goal on Friday when USC tries to break the NCAA women’s soccer attendance record by drawing 15,000 to the Coliseum.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MORNING BRIEFING: Florida claims SEC title
Florida claimed the SEC regular-season title with a 3-0 win over Arkansas Thursday evening in front of a James G. Pressly Stadium crowd of 1,893. Florida State won its seventh straight game with a 4-0 win over Clemson in ACC action. In the America East, red-hot Boston University wrapped up the regular-season crown.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
SCOREBOARD: Soccer America Women’s Top 25
Defending national champion USC hosts No. 3 UCLA at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Friday, and No. 7 Virginia hosts No. 5 North Carolina in an ACC match on Friday. No. 6 Florida travels to No. 13 LSU on Sunday for a battle of SEC divisional leaders, while No. 16 Colorado meets No. 11 Texas A&M Sunday in a Big 12 top-of-the-table clash. For Soccer America Women’s Top 25 results and schedules …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
SCOREBOARD: Soccer America Men’s Top 25
Weekend play includes four Top 25 clashes: Boston College-Wake Forest, Northwestern-Michigan, UC Davis-UC Irvine and Connecticut-Notre Dame all on Saturday. For Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USL’s Puerto Rico falls
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] A 1-0 home loss to Guatemala’s Municipal means USL-1’s Puerto Rico Islanders’ qualification for the second round depends on its final group game, Oct. 29 at Panama’s Tauro FC.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Red Bull loss clinches spot for K.C.
[MLS] After squandering a scenario of “win and we’re in,” the Red Bulls must now “pray for another day.” Fire forward Chris Rolfe scored three goals, all in the first half, and earned two assists as well in a 5-2 romp at Toyota Park that guaranteed Chicago second place in the Eastern Conference and yanked New York’s destiny out of its hands.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
A Tale of Two in Salt Lake
[MLS] To reach the playoffs when it faces Colorado Saturday, Real Salt Lake must perform a feat it’s done only twice all season: win a road game. Whether it succeeds or not, the club has made great strides on and off the field. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney profiles two key characters in Real’s 2008 season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS TV SCHEDULE: Two playoff spots up for grabs
[MLS] Real Salt Lake’s clash with Colorado will determine a playoff spot, with Salt Lake needing a tie or a win to pip the Rapids, who need a win to advance. … D.C. United will reach the playoffs if it beats Columbus on Sunday. If United ties or loses, New York gets the final wild-card slot. … The Los Angeles-Dallas game will determine the season’s leading scorer as the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan (19 goals) faces Kenny Cooper (18 goals). For this weekend’s MLS TV schedule, standings and leading scorers. …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Milan wins, Spanish and English sides lose in UEFA Cup
[UEFA CUP] In the first round of the UEFA Cup group phase there were defeats for English clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth, and Spanish clubs Racing Santander and Deportivo Coruna. With American Brad Friedel in goal, however, Aston Villa opened group play with a 2-1 win over Ajax.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“There is absolutely no suggestion on anyone’s part that David [Beckham] will not play for the full five years of his contract.”
— MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who also said that a loan of David Beckham to AC Milan will not be approved unless Beckham returns to the Los Angeles Galaxy in time for the MLS regular season start in March. (Reuters)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Neven Subotic not eligible for Germany
[U.S. SOCCER] The German soccer federation [DFB], which had previously been optimistic that 19-year-old defender Neven Subotic would be eligible for its national team despite having played for the USA at the 2005 U-17 World Cup, has admitted that Subotic doesn’t meet the FIFA requirements for a national-team switch to Germany. The news increases the chances that Subotic will play for the U.S. national team, although he still has other options.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Economics 101 from U.S. Soccer Prez
U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati also teaches economics at Columbia University. Soccer America spoke with Gulati about how the global economic crisis may affect the soccer world.