[MY VIEW] It’s all coming together for MLS in the Northwest. As it should be. The Seattle Sounders FC will make their MLS debut against New York Thursday before a sell-out crowd at (down-sized) Qwest Field (TV: ESPN2, 9 pm ET). On Wednesday, MLS announced that Vancouver will join the league as its 17th team in 2011. Portland is the favorite to be awarded the 18th franchise, also scheduled to begin play in 2011.
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It hurt me in the soul that they have branded me a traitor but I can’t do anything about it.”
— Diego Maradona telling Radio Mitre how upset he was to be labeled a traitor by fans of Boca Juniors, his former club, following Boca playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme’s decision last week to quit the Argentine national team, saying that he could not work with Maradona, the coach.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Van der Sar Vetted By Dutch, But Dismisses World Cup Return
“I knew beforehand what the answer would be, but I called him anyway.” Dutch national team coach Bert Van Marwijk, who was expectedly unsuccessful in his attempt to lure 38-year-old keeper Edwin Van der Sar out of international retirement to help the Netherlands qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Possible Brazil Return ‘Over’ For Ronaldo?
“I believe it is over. Ronaldo, for his skills, can still play at a good level, but it will never be like before. The national team is a different thing. We can’t be paternalistic or we would also call up Pele, Zagalo and Zico.” Carlos Alberto Torres, who captained the Selecao to the World Cup […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Sanneh Turning Back Time With Latest MLS Stint
“I think we were all curious to see how he looked when he came in. I’ve been very impressed with him. Tony has as much experience in U.S. soccer as anybody and he’s been around a long time. He’s played on big teams around the world and he really understands the league.” L.A. Galaxy forward […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ballack Rebuilding Bridges to German Coach, Teammates
In an effort to shed a recent past of being critical of the current national team coach and using verbal tirades to get his point across both on the field and in the locker room, midfielder Michael Ballack is slowly building back relationships with Joachim Loew and teammates alike as Germany attempts to qualify for […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Mourinho to Get $125 Million to Bring Top Talent to Inter?
Not satisfied with recent Champions League results, Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has successfully lobbied team owner Massimo Moratti for more spending cash and “has got the green light for a ($125 million) summer transfer assault on the Premier League,” according to The Daily Mirror. Mourinho is said to have his eye on six specific […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Bautista Bringing ‘Bofo’ Act to MLS This Summer?
Flamboyant Mexican forward Adolfo Bautista is entertaining thoughts of following in the footsteps of fellow famed star Cuauhtemoc Blanco by joining MLS this Summer, according to a report on mediotiempo.com. While the colorful “Bofo” currently plays for Jaguares in the Mexican First Division, the team has yet to renew his contract for the 2009-10 […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Houston Hungry For Return to MLS Cup Final
Still stung from their surprising loss to the New York Red Bulls in last year’s semifinals, the Houston Dynamo is determined to get back into position to win their third MLS title in four years, and happy to open the 2009 season against the 2008 champ Columbus Crew on Saturday. But without key contributors like […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Altidore May Be Off to Fourth Team in a Year
Since moving to Spanish Second Division Xerex from La Liga-living Villarreal in January, it’s been a case of “different team, same story” for 19-year-old U.S. striker Jozy Altidore. Which is to say, lots of talk of potential, but not a lot of minutes on the field. None, to be exact. Which is why he […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
MLS is back! Watch the first kick on Thursday night as the Seattle Sounders host the New York Red Bulls. MLS opening weekend continues this weekend. Clint Dempsey and Fulham have a big match on Saturday as they host Manchester United.
Posted inSoccer America Classifieds, Story
Soccer America Classifieds
Welcome to Soccer America Classifieds, Soccer America’s email newsletter connecting soccer companies and organizations to Soccer America members each week. Soccer America Classifieds feature soccer classified advertisements on the latest soccer job openings, soccer products and soccer opportunities. Read Soccer America Classifieds each Wednesday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Philadelphia to begin play in 2010
[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer awarded its eighth franchise to Philadelphia, which will begin play in 2010. The Philadelphia ownership group, led by David Halstead and Matthew Driver, hopes to play in the stadium being built in Chester, Pa., for the MLS team also scheduled to debut in 2010.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Gunners rally to sink Hull
[ENGLAND] The Arsenal-Chelsea semifinal date is on for April 18 at Wembley Stadium after the Gunners rallied in the last quarter of an hour, getting a tying goal from Robin van Persie and a controversial winner from William Gallas to beat Hull City, 2-1, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Mexico’s Marquez handed two-game ban
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Rafael Marquez‘s flying kick at U.S. goalie Tim Howard in last month’s Hexagonal opener landed the Mexico captain a two-game suspension.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
VW reups with multi-year agreement
[MLS] These are tough times for sports leagues seeking to seal marketing deals, but Major League Soccer received a boost this week when Soccer United Marketing, MLS’s marketing arm, reached an agreement with Volkswagen on a new multi-year partnership.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Islanders do it again
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Puerto Rico was bounced by the USA from the World Baseball Classic with a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, but all was not lost for Puerto Rican sports fans on Tuesday night. The USL-1 Islanders continued their remarkable campaign in the Concacaf Champions League with a 2-0 win over Mexico’s Cruz Azul in front of more than 13,000 fans at the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Vancouver comes aboard
Finally, MLS has docked in Vancouver. Commissioner Don Garber flew to the Canadian city Tuesday to wrap up final details and attend a press conference Wednesday to announce Vancouver will join MLS as the league’s 17th franchise in 2011.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Certainly it would benefit the team if we still had him [Landon Donovan] with us.”
— Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann, whose team is short of strikers after Miroslav Klose suffered an ankle injury that will sideline him for two months while Luca Toni is out with a hurt Achilles’ tendon. Donovan ended his loan spell at Bayern and returned Los Angeles last week. (Focus)
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Carey: Fans Will Decide When Sounders GM Goes
“The way I sold it to [co-owner] Joe Roth is that the fans will do your dirty work for you. You always know when a general manager is doing bad in any sport and you always know when they need to go, but nobody ever does anything about it … I think you should do […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Roberto Carlos Considers Return to Real Madrid
“If Florentino comes and says ‘Roberto, come back’, I will have to think about it and talk about it…If I said now that I didn’t want to go back, I would be lying…I would return to Madrid to play, to be part of a group of champions. I would not return to play a bit-part […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Wenger: ManU is ‘Mentally Tired,’ EPL Race Is ‘Open’
“Some players looked a bit mentally tired. It opens up the race for the title, even though I still believe that Manchester United are in a strong position with the game in hand that they still have. ?They have played many matches since Christmas and it looked to have caught up with them on Saturday.” […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Osorio All Done With Off-Season Moves; Red Bulls Ready to Run
There will be no “mid-season makeover” like last season, promises Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio, referring to South American additions Gabriel Cichero, Juan Pietravallo and Jorge Rojas, among others, that arrived in time to help the N.Y. upstarts make a run all the way to the MLS Cup final. This time around, Osorio went […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Platini, UEFA Ponder Super-Championship Proposal
There is talk of yet another European club competition crowding an already full calendar of fixtures, as France Football magazine revealed in its most recent issue that the continent’s top pro teams “are ready to break away and form an elite, three-tiered “Super-Championship”, which would usurp the Champions League in importance,” writes Goal.com. Replacing an […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
USL’s Puerto Rico Makes Unlikely Impact In CONCACAF
The Puerto Rican Islanders’ success in the CONCACAF Champions League is almost as unexpected as the difficulty in finding a soccer field in the baseball and basketball-crazed, Spanish-speaking U.S. territory. The five-year-old USL-1 team’s unlikely path to Tuesday’s semifinal against ancient Mexican club Cruz Azul is just another story in the sports history of “the […]