Monthly Archives: May 2009

[MLS] Chivas USA signed Cesar Zamora, an 18-year-old midfielder from Sylmar, Calif., and a product of the Chivas USA youth program, to a Developmental Contract. Zamora is the third player the club has promoted to the first team roster from its youth ranks.

[TELEVISION] Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United broadcast live on ESPN was the highest-rated and most-watched UEFA telecast in U.S. cable television history, attracting an average of 1,066,000 homes for a 1.1 rating. That represented an increase of almost 34 percent over the previous record set last year when Man United beat Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final. Wednesday’s game was the last on the ESPN networks before the Champions League moves to the Fox family of networks in 2009-10.

[WPS] It’s official: Ian Sawyers is out as Sky Blue’s coach and general manager. Kelly Lindsey will be in charge for Sky Blue’s first game at Rutgers’ Yurcak Field on Sunday. Elsewhere, Saint Louis and Washington both take four-game unbeaten streaks into weekend play as the pack tries to close the gap on runaway leader Los Angeles. For a look at all the weekend action …

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Will the breakup of Manchester United begin? Soon after Wednesday’s loss to Barcelona, speculation began about the future of United’s big stars. Asked if he’d be back next season, star Cristiano Ronaldo said, “I don’t know.”

[MLS PREDICTION] The excellent Chivas USA defensive record (six shutouts, six goals allowed) is tainted somewhat by the fact Zach Thornton leads the league with 41 saves, and quite of a few of them have tested the 6-foot-3 keeper. If it gives up a proportional number of chances to Brian McBride, Chris Rolfe, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, et al, it will be lucky to maintain its unbeaten (5-0-1) home record.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Is Barcelona the greatest club ever? Real Madrid, winner of its fifth straight European Cup with a 7-3 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960, is considered the greatest club ever, but that was another era. Playing without three starters and using two other starters out of position, Barcelona made Manchester United — the defending champion and winner of the English Premier League — look quite ordinary with a 2-0 win in Wednesday’s final.

[MLS] They are years removed from their time in Chicago, yet the former Fire members now employed by Chivas USA are respectful of that past as well as the present. Chicago comes into its Thursday meeting with Chivas USA (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) at Home Depot Center as the league’s only unbeaten team (4-0-6) and atop the Eastern Conference. Chivas USA leads the West with the league’s best record (7-1-3) and four former Fire players on its roster, headed by Jesse Marsch and keeper Zach Thornton.

[U.S. OPEN CUP] The 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins on June 16 with 16 first-round games featuring two amateur teams, the St. Louis Lions (PDL) and Arizona Sahuaros (USASA), returning for their second consecutive U.S. Open Cup appearance. For the complete first-round schedule …

[USL TEAMS OF THE WEEK] Guinean Mandjou Keita, who scored his first two goals of the year to lead the Portland Timbers to a draw and their first-ever victory at Puerto Rico, and English rookie Yan Klukowski, who had a goal and an assist to lead Western Mass to its first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over previously unbeaten Wilmington, earned the USL First Division and Second Division Player of the Week honors, respectively. For the USL-1 and USL-2 Teams of the Week …

[MLS] For once, Crew fans didn’t have to sweat as much after their team took a second-half lead. Five times this season Columbus has conceded a goal in the last 10 minutes, and when Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored Wednesday to break a 1-1 tie, there were still 44 minutes and 32 seconds, plus stoppage time, still to be played. But the opponent this night was San Jose, and despite its desperate plight and the entry of recently signed striker Cornell Glen with 20 minutes to play, the Quakes seldom mustered a serious threat.