Monthly Archives: April 2009

[MLS PREDICTIONS] Among the teams seeking their first victory of the season is the beleaguered Los Angeles Galaxy, whose game against the San Jose Earthquakes was set in Oakland to accommodate a Beckham crowd, which instead must settle for a postgame firework show. 2008 runner-up New York looks for its first win when it hosts Real Salt Lake. Houston tries to end a four-game winless streak when it hosts Colorado. Also hosting is winless FC Dallas, which welcomes Toronto. The league’s top team so far, Chivas USA, hosts Seattle, which lost for the first time last week. For all of Soccer America’s predictions, as well as TV viewing information, and to see how we fared last week …

[USL-2 PREVIEW] A new USL Second Division champion will be crowned following the promotion of last year’s winners, the Cleveland City Stars, to the USL-1. The contenders include Charlotte, Richmond, Crystal Palace Baltimore and Harrisburg. Here’s a look at nine teams in order of last year’s finish …

[CONCACAF UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP] U.S. under-17 national team coach Wilmer Cabrera named 20 players whom he’ll take to 2009 CONCACAF U-17 Championship April 21-May 2 in Tijuana, Mexico. USA, the only country to qualify for every FIFA U-17 World Cup since the tournament’s inception in 1985, has one notable omission: 15-year-old midfield star Charles Renken, who has been in residency five semesters but is again sidelined with a knee injury. For the complete roster …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Jozy Altidore, who scored four goals in the last two U.S. World Cup qualifiers, will be out for up to a month because of toe-nail surgery. Steve Cherundolo, who’s been missing from his right back position with the USA, is due to undergo hip surgery and will miss the rest of the Bundesliga season.

[WPS] The Chicago Red Stars, who won and tied their first two games on the road, are the last WPS team to open at home when they host Sky Blue FC in the WPS Sunday on FSC (TV: 6 pm ET). For a look at this weekend’s WPS action …

The UEFA Cup is down to four teams — two Ukrainian and two German. Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk will meet in one semifinal, while Hamburg will faces Werder Bremen in the other. For all of Thursday’s results and goalscorers …

[MAKING A LIST] Maine became the 19th Division I school to drop its men’s soccer program in the last 19 years.

[SIGN OF THE TIMES] The University of Maine’s men’s program became the first Division I soccer program to get the ax in response to cutbacks necessitated by the economic woes that have befallen state universities. This was no Title IX move. Women’s volleyball also was dropped, resulting in a projected savings of $600,000 from dropping the two programs in the next fiscal year. It’s a decision that will have a devastating impact on soccer in Maine. It leaves Maine without a D1 program at a time when boys soccer, always popular at the schoolboy level, has taken off at the club level.

[MLS] Less than six months after MLS rejected its bid for an expansion team in 2011, the Montreal Impact is seeking to strengthen its case by getting $20 million in government funding to expand 13,000-seat Stade Saputo.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] By this point last season, Arsenal was running out of gas. Now, the Gunners may be the hottest team in Europe. Their performance in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League series was certainly the most impressive. Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 win over Villarreal that extended it record in 2009 to 13 wins, seven ties and only one loss in 21 games and gave it a 4-1 win on aggregate, setting up a date with Manchester United in the semifinals.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Cristiano Ronaldo‘s goal from 40 yards six minutes into the game was all Manchester United needed to accomplish what no other English club has done — beat Porto at the Dragao Stadium. United’s defense held, and the defending champion moved into the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win that gave it a 3-2 victory on aggregate.