[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Barcelona won the first leg of its UEFA Champions League series with Bayern Munich by a margin of 4-0, but it is taking nothing for granted going into Tuesday’s second leg (TV: ESPN Deportes, Setanta Sports USA, live, 2:30 pm ET).
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Liverpool has nothing to lose
[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Down 3-1 after the first leg, Liverpool must score at least three goals in Tuesday’s second leg of its UEFA Champions League quarterfinal series with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (TV: ESPN2, live, 2:30 pm ET) to have any chance of advancing. Impossible? Lowly Bolton scored three goals in eight minutes at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
‘Game over’ for Heath Pearce
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Heath Pearce, the starting U.S. left back for the first two games of the final round of World Cup 2010 qualifying, has been dropped from German Second Division club Hansa Rostock’s first team by Coach Andreas Zachhuber “for performance reasons.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We might have a chance if Barcelona turns up with eight players.”
— Bayern captain Mark van Bommel on the outlook for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League series between Barcelona and Bayern, which fell, 4-0, in last week’s first game. Bayern was so badly outplayed that after the “Night of Shame” former Bayern coach Udo Lattek was pictured on television in tears. (Independent)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Red cards fly in ‘peace game’
[OFF THE POST] Brazilian clubs Juventude and Caxias promoted their clash as a “peace match” and held a pregame “Fraternity Breakfast” that included fan club leaders, police officials and club presidents to discourage violence between supporters of the rival teams. The breakfast went fine, but the game featured five ejections.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Getting it right with college products
Why is it that so often slew of pundits and experts decry the shallow pool of talent available in the MLS SuperDraft and express astonishment during the season at how well those players selected have performed?
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Recession Soccer Refreshes Hope in Hoboken
For all those soccer fans who find themselves out of work in the N.Y./N.J. area, there is new networking niche: a weekly meeting of "recession soccer" that brings together a group of un- and underemployed to "ponder ball and goal, past and future and the vagaries of the job market all while getting in a […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Sounders Third-String Keeper Gets the Call
When early 2009 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year favorite Kasey Keller earned a very rare red card in the 29th minute of Seattle's match vs. the Kansas City Wizards, and with backup keeper Chris Eylander out with an injury, it was left to "extreme hardship" (yes, that's an official league term) call-up Ben Dragavon to […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Carver Relies on Robinson As Toronto’s ‘Anchorman’
In the name of MLS success, Toronto FC coach John Carver has been forced to put aside his die-hard fandom of Newcastle United and place his faith "into the hands of a man who once played for Sunderland, the Toon Army's hated Northeast rivals," writes Paul Attfield. But EPL allegiances aside, it's Carl Robinson that […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Good Early Reviews for MLS Rookies
Not often is the occasion that rookie talent translates into instant impact in MLS, but only three weeks into the '09 season that optimistic scenario has already "been borne out on the field," as ESPN Soccernet's Ives Galarcep points out that "a total of 15 MLS draft picks have already earned starts for their teams, […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Mourinho’s ‘Time Has Passed’ At Chelsea
"Jose was a great coach, (and) he is a great guy, but I think his time at Chelsea Football Club has passed." Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, addressing the team's high profile coaching vacancy after Guus Hiddink departs this summer and all but ruling out a possible Mourinho homecoming. Buck did not comment on recent rumors […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Alex Ferguson: Giggs the ‘Prime Example’
"You look at someone like Ryan Giggs and he has to be the prime example of what we're after in life. Someone that has never changed, someone who at every training session does his best and throughout his 20-year career has excelled in different levels all the time. He just keeps going and going and […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Dalglish Family was among Hillsborough Survivors
"We were one of the lucky families. Our children came home to us that night and obviously we are eternally grateful for that, but that doesn't mean to say we don't have a great deal of sympathy for those who were not as fortunate as us. I always feel for anyone who was there and […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Barcelona Wary of Bayern’s Wounded Pride
Of all four Champions League quarterfinal series, the one that is by far the most out of reach is that of Bayern and Barcelona, but you wouldn't know it from the cautious comments and approach of Barca coach Pep Guardiola, who sat key players Xavi, Samuel Eto'o and captain Carlos Puyol on Saturday in order […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
D.C. United hosts New England in the MLS Game of the Week on Friday. In WPS, the Chicago Red Stars take on Sky Blue FC on Sunday afternoon. England’s FA Cup hits the Semifinal stage this weekend.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
2008 finalists still struggling [VIDEO]
[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] A flurry of red cards included ejections of two U.S. veterans. The 2008 MLS Cup finalists remained winless. FC Dallas got its first point thanks to a spectacular goal.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
International Weekend Results
Marseille took over first place in France. Rangers moved to within one point of Celtic in Scotland. Anderlecht and Standard Liege remain tied in Belgium. For all the results in Europe’s major leagues and Mexico …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Results
Yes, there’s parity in MLS. Five games ended in ties, and the other two were decided by one goal. For all the game summaries, standings leading scorers and next weekend’s schedule …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Kelly Smith sets high standard with Breakers
[WPS] Kelly Smith wavered before leaving the Arsenal Ladies and returning to the United States to play in WPS, and Boston Breakers fans are glad she came. Smith, who could rival Los Angeles star Marta for being the most dangerous striker in WPS, scored one goal and set up Kristine Lilly another to lead the Breakers to a 2-0 win over St. Louis in their home opener.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Clint Dempsey scores twice in EPL
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey equalized and tagged on the final goal in Fulham’s 3-1 win over Manchester City to up his EPL season total to seven goals. Two other Americans hit the net last weekend.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chicago teen win dream contest
[MLS] Alberto Lopez, a 17-year-old midfielder from Aurora, Ill., won the Sueno MLS 2009 competition, MLS’s nationally televised player search that attracted 1,800 candidates at tryouts in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Macheda does it again for Man. United
[EUROPEAN RACES] What could 17-year-old Italian Federico Macheda do for an encore? A week after coming off the bench and scoring in his debut to give Manchester United a 3-2 win over Aston Villa, Macheda came on as a substitute at Sunderland and scored to give United a 2-1 victory that kept it a point ahead of Liverpool and four ahead of Chelsea with a game in hand in the tight English Premier League race. For a look at the European races …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It was difficult for the players out there. It was very awkward. There were some bad tackles that went by, other plays that were called. A lot of the cards were merited.”
— Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena on his team’s game with Chivas USA that featured 11 cards (including three reds) and zero goals. (LA Daily News)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Whitecaps begin title defense with 0-0 tie
[USL-1] The defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps had to settle for a 0-0 tie with the Charleston Battery at home Saturday on the opening of the 2009 USL-1 season. In the weekend’s only other game, revamped Carolina edged Minnesota, 2-1, thanks to former MLS striker Gavin Glinton‘s goal only four minutes after coming on in his RailHawks’ debut.
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Four Superb Goals Crown Barca’s Ground Game
Bayern Munich and Coach Juergen Klinsmann took a hammering last week from Barcelona. The soccer played by Barca was a delight to watch — skillful, swift, powerful at times, artistic at others, even both simultaneously, soccer at its most effective and its most beguiling.