Contrary to initial news reports, the Spanish newspaper Marca has claimed that Real Madrid's Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder never boarded the plane headed to Malpensa airport to conclude a deal with Inter Milan. Sneijder will now reportedly fight for his place, which looks insecure under coach Manuel Pellegrini. The club has stripped Sneijder of his […]
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Mexico’s Leading Scorer To Return Against D.C.
Toluca’s star forward Raul Mancilla has battled a left leg injury in the early season that has limited his playing time. But Mancilla could make his Concacaf Champions League debut against D.C. United on Wednesday (Fox Soccer Channel & Telefutura, 8 pm ET). After sitting out two games, Mancilla played 39 minutes over the weekend. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Soumare Departs Fire for France
Bakary Soumare is set to leave the Chicago Fire for French League 1 club Boulogne. Soumare has agreed to a four-year contract, the club said on its Web site Monday. The 24-year-old Mali defender, who grew up in France before moving to New York in his teens, was named to the MLS’ Best IX last […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Look Who’s Tweeting Now
Chivas Guadalajara owner Jorge Vergara isn’t happy with the way his team has started the season, losing three out of four games. Vergara has expressed his discontent over his Twitter account after Chivas lost against Atlante in Cancun. “The history that Chivas has does not allow us to live the situation that the team is […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
MLS Not Interested In Buying USL
Nike is selling off some of its soccer empire. After inheriting United Soccer Leagues when it bought Umbro in 2007, Nike has decided that the league does not fit with its core business. But Nike is still searching for a buyer. Many argue that Major League Soccer would serve as the ideal owner of USL, […]
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Cardinal is fine form at Hawaii
WOMEN’S NEWS … Stanford, ranked No. 2 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25, looked great in its game late Sunday night at Hawaii, a 6-2 win. Juniors Kelley O’Hara and Christen Press both scored two goals.
Coach Paul Ratcliffe started two freshmen on the backline — Alina Garciamendez in the middle and Rachel Quon at right back — and Courtney Verloo had a goal and two assists in her collegiate debut off the bench.
Ratcliffe: “We were just happy to get six goals. But we need to keep working on a lot of things. In the back, we still have work to do. The midfield has work to do. But, offensively, we looked strong.”
* Here is the first Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week, led by Carolina’s Casey Nogueira.
* Several records were broken or tied over the weekend:
— Senior Jessica Okoroafo set a Purdue record when she scored the first goal in the 5-0 win over Ohio and had both goals in a 2-1 victory at Butler, giving her 14 game-winning goals, one more than Lauren Sesselmann had in her career (2001-05).
— Welshwoman Shan Jones tied the Middle Tennessee school record with four goals in an 11-1 victory over Alabama A&M.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Carolina men completes sweep of preseason rankings
MEN’S NEWS … The North Carolina men made a clean sweep of preseason rankings when it was ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25.
Elmar Bolowich‘s boys are coming off a runner-up finish in the 2008 Men’s College Cup.
The Heels return six starters and all four substitutes from last year’s team that lost ACC rival Maryland, 1-0, in the final.
Billy Dworsky, UNC’s leading scorer in 2007, is back in action after redshirting in 2008, and two former first-team freshman All-Americans Michael Farfan (Cal State Fullerton) and Stephen McCarthy (Santa Clara) transferred to Chapel Hill.
The freshman class is led by South Carolina prep legend Enzo Martinez (182 goals at Northwestern High School).
— Only two other ACC teams are ranked in the Top 25 — No. 5 Wake Forest and Maryland No. 8. Both teams suffered heavy losses to the pro ranks but both welcome strong freshman classes.
— The Big East led all conferences with five teams in the Top 25: No. 3 St. John’s, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 13 Connecticut, No. 18 South Florida and No. 23 Louisville.
— Unlike the women, where a half a dozen conferences dominated the preseason rankings, the Men’s Top 25 features teams from 13 conferences. Other conferences represented are the Big West and Big Ten with three, Pac-10 with two and the Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Horizon, Ivy, MAAC, CAA, Conference USA, America East and MPSF, all with one.
TRIVIA: Never has a school swept the men’s and women’s Division I titles in the same year. The Carolina women won and the men were second in 2008. The only year the Tar Heel men won the national championship was in 2001 when the women fell to Santa Clara in the final.
Soccer America Top 5
TEAM (2008 RECORD)
1. North Carolina (15-8-1)
2. Akron (17-2-4)
3. St. John’s (19-3-3)
4. Indiana (14-7-3)
5. Wake Forest (21-2-1)
Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25
Wednesday: Soccer America Men’s Preseason All-Americans
* Virginia’s preseason troubles continued as the Cavs fell to Old Dominion, 3-1, on Monday night. All the goals came in the last 15 minutes. Freshman Ahkeel Rodney evened the score after Nane Joseph put ODU ahead on a penalty kick, but the Monarchs won on late goals by Emmanuel Ambane and Yannick Smith. Virginia had lost, 1-0, to another state rival, George Mason, on Friday.
* Ethan Finlay had both goals for No. 6 Creighton in its 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Wizards on Monday. Former Bluejay standout Michael Kraus scored the game-winning goal for the MLS team.
* Steven Perry‘s goal was the difference as Notre Dame edged No. 11 Northwestern, 1-0, before 1,756 fans in South Bend.
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
On Saturday, don’t miss the Southern California clasico as the Galaxy takes on Chivas USA. The Richmond Kickers host the Charlotte Eagles for the USL Second Division championship Saturday. Catch a full slate of European and Mexican matches throughout the weekend.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We recently evaluated the opportunity to purchase the USL, but elected to not submit a bid for the league.”
— Dan Courtemanche, a senior vice president for marketing and communications at MLS. (New York Times)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week
[COLLEGE] Casey Nogueira, the 2008 Soccer America Women’s Player of the Year who scored two goals in top-ranked North Carolina’s 7-2 win over No. 3 UCLA, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week for games played Aug. 21-23. For the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Sportsmanship halfway [VIDEO]
[OFF THE POST] In Australia, South Melbourne’s Brazilian midfielder Fernando de Moraes did the sportsmanship thing after an opponent’s injury when he sent a throw-in to the Sunshine Georgies’ goalkeeper, who applauded the action. But then De Moraes chased down the throw, robbed the keeper, and stroked the ball into the net.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Alvarez called up to play for ‘La Selecta’
[USA-EL SALVADOR] Former U.S. U-20 Arturo Alvarez was among three MLS players called into El Salvador’s 22-player squad for its World Cup 2010 qualifier against the USA on Sept. 5 in Sandy, Utah.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Kenny Cooper strikes again in Germany [VIDEO]
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Kenny Cooper scored his second German Division Second goal in his third appearance for 1860 Munich, which gave up the lead he provided in the 18th minute one minute later and went down 3-1 to Karlsruhe.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
The Playoff Race
[MLS] Which eight teams would qualify for the playoffs based on the current standings?
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25
[COLLEGE] North Carolina, the 2008 NCAA Division I runner-up, is ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25, as selected by its editors. The selection gives the ACC a clean sweep of the Soccer America preseason rankings. The Carolina women were also No. 1. The rest of the top five consists of Akron, St. John’s Indiana and Wake Forest. For the complete Soccer America Women’s Preseason Top 25 rankings …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Friedel rolls back the years
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Brad Friedel returned to Anfield to face Liverpool, the club at which he started his English Premier League career 12 years ago, and helped Aston Villa earn a 3-1 win over the Reds. The victory, the first of the league season for struggling Villa, was revenge for a 5-0 loss at Anfield in March.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Where the Red Bulls went wrong
As blame cascades down and those in Red Bull land scurry for cover, glaring among the many things the franchise couldn’t do was rebuild from within MLS.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Man City Now Stocking Defenders
Manchester City hasn’t finished yet with its big-spending summer overhaul of players. The club confirmed that it reached an agreement with Everton to buy defender Joleon Lescott for $36 million. “The move is subject to the player agreeing personal terms and passing a medical,” reads Manchester City’s web site. Lescott has been a longtime target […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Gourcuff and Bordeaux Pick Up Where They Left Off
Bordeaux carried its momentum from last season over to this one. The team won the final 11 games of last season to clinch the league title on the final day. On Sunday, Bordeaux extended its record winning streak in the French league to 14 games with a 4-0 drubbing of Nice. Yoann Gourcuff scored twice […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Finally, Red Bulls Pull One Out
The Red Bulls got some relief over the weekend. In Richie Williams‘ first game as interim coach, the team snapped its 16-game winless streak in all competitions, winning for the first time since May 8 and two days after the resignation of Juan Carlos Osorio. Juan Pablo Angel struck twice, becoming the club’s leader in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
New England Gaining Strength
Coming off short rest after playing in Seattle on Thursday night, the New England Revolution didn’t show signs of tiring at home against Real Salt Lake on Sunday. A Kheli Dube hat trick – the first New England hat trick since Taylor Twellman scored three against Columbus on Sept. 10, 2005 – propelled New England […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Sky Blue FC Battle Back From Last Place to Hoist Inaugural Trophy
Sky Blue FC completed a season wrought with ups and downs with a championship trophy. "We've been through a lot this year," Christie Rampone, the team's player-coach said. "But this team stuck together. Our goal coming into the playoffs was making sure we had each others' backs and playing with no pressure." Rampone took over […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Hamburg SV Ends Wolfsburg’s Home Streak
In the Bundesliga, Hamburg SV ended defending champ Wolfsburg’s run of 16 straight home wins with a 4-2 away win on Sunday. Wolfsburg, which had not lost at home for 20 games, battled back from a 2-0 deficit by scoring twice in under four minutes early in the second half. But Hamburg struck back with […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Atletico Paranaense Slows Streaking Sao Paulo
Atletico Paranaense beat San Paulo, 1-0, to end the defending champion's seven-match winning steak in the Brazilian league on Sunday. Veteran midfielder Paulo Baier scored the winning goal in the 87th minute, a header off a cross from right midfielder Gabriel. With its first loss in nine matches, Sao Paulo missed a chance to keep […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
In the midweek, catch the European Champions League and the Concacaf Champions League, where three MLS teams (Columbus, D.C. United, Houston) will see action. On Saturday, don’t miss the Southern California clasico as the Galaxy takes on Chivas USA. Look for updates in Wednesday’s and Friday’s Soccer on TV.