“She was considering her future, shall we say. But we saved the girl. Sweet talk, you can say. In the end she tootled off back to wherever she had come from. I think she saw us and realized, ‘OK, at least it’s not that bad.'”
— Phil Brown, coach of the English Premier League’s 18th place team, Hull, after dissuading an apparently suicidal woman from jumping off the Humber Bridge. Brown had taken his team on a walk “looking for clarity” after a 6-1 loss to Liverpool. (Irish Times)
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Add a Clint Dempsey shoulder injury to the factors complicating the selection decisions faced by U.S. coach Bob Bradley. Dempsey underwent an MRI evaluation Monday and has been diagnosed with a shoulder sprain, which rules him out of the Hexagonal match Saturday against Honduras in San Pedro Sula. Further evaluation will determine his status for the final Hexagonal game a week from Wednesday against Costa Rica in Washington, D.C.
TUESDAY ACTION:
Men’s College Scoreboard
[COLLEGE] Nikki Marshall, who scored four goals and added an assist for a school-record nine points in Colorado’s 5-1 Big 12 win over Oklahoma, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week for games played Sept. 28-Oct. 4. For the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week …
[COLLEGE] Senior Kyle Nakazawa, who scored twice on free kicks, added a third goal and had an assist in a pair of Pac-10 road games for UCLA, is the Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week for games played Sept. 28-Oct. 4. For the Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week …
[UNDER-20 WORLD CUP] Italy upset Spain, the only team to win all three games during the group phase, when the Azzurrini prevailed, 3-1, Monday in the round of 16 at the Under-20 World Cup. South Korea also advanced, beating Paraguay by the same 3-0 scoreline that it had beaten the USA on Friday. For more on Monday’s games and the complete schedule with viewing information …
How to explain the performance of the American under-20s in Egypt? Not qualifying for the second round — we’ve come to think of that as a given after past successes — is just part of it. An equally baffling aspect is that remarkable 4-1 win over Cameroon sandwiched between the two woeful 0-3 defeats to Germany and South Korea.
On Saturday the Houston Dynamo clinched a playoff birth for the fourth consecutive season with a 1-1 tie against the Kansas City Wizards. Despite its success, some warning signs are emerging for the Dynamo late in the season. For the sixth time in eight games, including the past four, a Dynamo player picked up a […]
Didier Drogba set up two close-range finishes, one for Nicolas Anelka and the other for Florent Malouda, as Chelsea earned a deserved victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool threatened only occasionally, with Fernando Torres subdued by a magnificent performance from Chelsea and England captain John Terry, who repelled any danger that came his side’s […]
Sigi Schmid‘s first year Seattle Sounders FC hasn’t reached the same levels of consistency and chemistry as Schmid’s old project, the defending MLS champions Columbus Crew. But on Saturday, Sounders FC squeaked out a 1-0 victory to end the Crew’s league-record 24-game home-unbeaten streak, a mark that started last season under Schmid. At Seattle, Schmid […]
At the Under-20 World Cup the U.S. team’s erratic performances prevented it from reaching the second round for the first time since 1987. “We simply weren’t good enough to get the results we needed. That’s the harsh reality,” U.S. coach Thomas Rongen said. “We are bitterly disappointed with the results.” The U.S. team lost 3-0 […]
Former U.S. national team midfielder Hugo Perez may have been the first playmaker in U.S. history. And he is largely unknown in this country. “I think Perez really flew under the radar,” said former U.S. international Marcelo Balboa, who was Perez’s teammate on the 1994 World Cup team. “That was the sad part. You really […]
FIFA.com interviews the Ricardo Clark, whose gritty defending and tough tackles for the national team often go unnoticed in the headlines. The Atlanta-born Clark is a product of the U.S. national youth team system. He earned his first cap at the senior level in 2005, and he garnered attention this June at the FIFA Confederations […]
Let’s see if we can make some sense out of this MLS playoff race, shall we?
In MLS action, San Jose hosts surging FC Dallas on Wednesday. Real Salt Lake takes on Chivas Guadalajara in a friendly match on the same day. World Cup qualifying takes center stage this weekend. The USA’s World Cup qualifying game at Honduras at 10 pm ET on Saturday is available on closed-circuit TV only. Mexico’s qualifier against El Salvador can be seen on Telemundo.
WOMEN’S NEWS … Virginia Tech’s 1-0 win over defending national champion North Carolina is certainly the biggest upset of the year, but it wasn’t a fluke.
Four days earlier, the Hokies had beaten No. 23 Virginia, 2-1, in Charlottesville, and their win over UNC put them into the lead in the ACC with a 4-0-0 record. It also earned them a No. 6 ranking in this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25.
Tech gave Carolina a scare just 46 seconds into the game when Emily Jukich scored on a bicycle kick, but the goal was called off for offside. The winning goal in the 54th minute wasn’t as pretty. Carolina keeper Ashlyn Harris was involved in a collision coming out to grab a ball, and forward Julian Johnson flicked it Hokie teammate Marika Gray, who scored into the wide-open goal.
Last year, the Hokies overcame the loss of Gray, their leading scorer, with a knee injury to make the 2008 ACC championship game — where they lost to Carolina — and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
For Carolina, Sunday’s loss marked only its eighth loss in 204 ACC games. Only once in 23 years of ACC play have the Heels ever lost more than one game — they lost three times in 2000 and went on to win the national championship — and they have never lost in 57 ACC tournament games — twice they fell in the final on penalty kicks.
* UNC’S ACC LOSSES.
2009 Virginia Tech 0-1
2007 Miami (Fla.) 0-1
2005 Duke 1-2
2002 N.C. State 1-2
2000 Clemson 1-2
2000 Florida State 2-3
2000 Wake Forest 0-1
1994 Duke 2-3
* SEC THRILLER. The other team to debut in this week’s Top 25 is Mississippi (8-3-0), which overcame heavy rain and swirling winds to upset defending SEC champion Florida, 3-2, in overtime Sunday at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
One of the shortest players on the field, 5-foot-1 sophomore Abbie Curran, came up with the game’s big play, heading in Danielle Johnson‘s free kick into the Florida goal to break a 2-2 tie. “When I saw Dee taking it, I had an open spot in front of me,” Curran said. “I had a good feeling.”
Ole Miss should have put the game away earlier but it hit the woodwork three times, once in the first half and twice in the second period. Despite their domination — and 13-5 shot advantage in the second half — the Rebels needed Kelsey Breathitt‘s goal in the 84th minute to send the game into overtime.
“I’m proud of the way our girls came out here and fought,” Ole Miss coach Steve Holeman said. “We could have beaten them in regulation and we were the better team in the second half. Florida had two good opportunities and they scored on those two chances in the second half. We had five or six very good scoring opportunities, but their keeper [Katie Fraine] is phenomenal. She made some big-time saves. This certainly wasn’t a game that we would have been happy with a tie.”
Weekend Results
* GAME OF THE WEEKEND:
(On Friday, UMBC got its first win in 10 games. Two days later, Vermont came back from 2-0 and 4-3 down to earn its first win in 11 games.)
Oct. 4 in Baltimore
UMBC 5 Vermont 6. Goals: Vacarino (Gazarek) 6, Vacarino 23, Sadowski (Bilardo) 36, Kell (McDonald, Edgar) 51, Purdum (Vacarino, Kell) 90; Bonfigli (Laderoute) 24, Laderoute 26, Herbst (Becker) 27, Laderoute 53, Becker (Laderoute) 67, Herbst (Becker) 68.
UMBC — Van Vlerah, Johnson, Gazarek, Sadowski, McKay, McDonald, Gitlin, Vacarino, Bilardo, McKee, Edgar. Subs: Jackson, Kopytko, Epps, Kell, Purdum.
Vermont — Bradley, Rozumalski, Hassler, Herbst, Andres, Hemphill, Milbank, Deppen, Laderoute, Becker, Bonfigli. Subs: Kelly, McGowan, Miele, Feldman, Eckenstein, Mucia, Gill, Coggins, Kwarta, Davenport.
Referee: Jason Cullum.
Att.: 203.
MEN’S NEWS … Kyle Nakazawa is making an early case for Player of the Year honors with a torrid run for UCLA, which is again No. 2 in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25. Once again this season, “Bend it like Naka” has been the refrain for Bruin fans.
The senior midfielder matched his previous season high with his seventh goal of the season — all in the last six games — on a free kick in the Bruins’ 1-1 tie at Washington on Sunday afternoon.
Once considered one of the most promising players in the U.S. national youth team system, Nakazawa is coming off a back injury that limited him to eight starts in 2008.
Nakazawa, who had trained at Dutch club Ajax in 2001, first made a name for himself at the 2005 Under-17 World Cup, where he scored two goals to lead the USA to first place in its group, but he chose to attend UCLA instead of pursuing professional opportunities.
Free kicks have been Nakazawa’s specialty. Both goals at the Under-17 World Cup — against North Korea and Italy — were on free kicks. He scored on a free kick to give UCLA a 1-0 win over New Mexico in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. And he scored on free kicks against both Oregon State and Washington on last weekend’s trip to the Pacific Northwest.
* NAKAZAWA STREAK:
Sept. 10, UC Davis (4-0), goal
Sept. 17, Cal State Fullerton (2-1), assist
Sept. 25, San Diego (2-1), goal on penalty kick and assist
Sept. 27, UNLV (3-0) two goals
Oct. 2, Oregon State (3-1) two goals, one on free kick, and assist
Oct. 4, Washington (1-1) goal on free kick
Weekend Results
* GAME OF THE WEEKEND:
(Tommy Appel-Schumacher‘s goal for Towson from 45 yards just 95 seconds into the game set the tone for a wild match on Alumni Day.)
Oct. 3 in Philadelphia
Drexel 6 Towson 5 (OT). Goals: Assumpcao pen. 19, Goldberg (Assumpcao) 21, Assumpcao (Baker), 74, Baker 77, Goldberg 87, Page 106; Appel-Schumacher 2, Maloney 33, N. Bermudez Roa 66, Cabrales 69, Mangione 83.
Drexel — Washam, Miller, Ermold, Rohlfsen, LeBourne, Assumpcao, Baker, Page, Goldberg, Johnson, Crose. Subs: Vignola, Sales, Olson, Crockett, Volpatti.
Towson — Steele, Greatwich, Spivey, Horta, Hurkamp, Zecha, Mangione, O’Rourke, LeVine, Appel-Schumacher, Maloney. Subs: Nzokou, J. Bermudez-Roa, N. Bermudez-Roa, Froedert, Cabrales.
Referee: Hossam Saad.
Att.: 465.
[USL-1] The USL First Division trophy will remain in Canada. The defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps, held on for a 3-3 tie with regular-season champion Portland in a wild game before 14,283 fans Sunday afternoon and won their semifinal series, 5-4, on aggregate. The Whitecaps will meet the Montreal Impact, which made it four wins in four playoff games with a 2-1 win at Puerto Rico.
[SPAIN] Sunday’s Sevilla-Real Madrid showdown at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Sevilla answered several questions. Will the new Galacticos go unbeaten? No. Can Sevilla challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid for La Liga championship? After its 2-1 victory, the answer is a resounding yes.
[COLLEGE] Akron and UCLA remained 1-2 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25. North Carolina, California and South Florida each moved up two spots and round out the top five at 3-4-5. For the complete Men’s Top 25 …
[COLLEGE] Stanford remained No. 1 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 for the third straight week, but North Carolina, the Preseason No. 1, fell to No. 3 and was replaced at No. 2 by Portland. Virginia Tech, which beat North Carolina, 1-0, on Sunday for its second win against a Top 25 team in four days, moved into the Top 25 at No. 6. For the complete Women’s Top 25 …
[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] Landon Donovan finished off a nice sequence of counterattack passing to send the Galaxy past Chicago. Seattle ended Columbus’ home unbeaten streak. A couple of midseason signings scored their first goals. And San Jose made sure it wouldn’t finish rock bottom in 2009. For MLS’s weekend highlights. …
[MLS] Los Angeles, which hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2005, and Houston, joined defending champ Columbus as postseason qualifiers. Five spots are still up for grabs. …
Chelsea took the lead in the English Premier League when it won for the seventh time in eight games with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool and defending champion Manchester United was held to a 2-2 tie by surprise Sunderland. Inter Milan regained a share of the lead in Italy’s Serie A with Sampdoria, while Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen remained tied for the top spot in Germany’s Bundesliga. For the weekend results and current standings …
The MLS playoff race was largely unchanged from last week. The key results were Seattle’s 1-0 win at Columbus and Chivas USA’s 2-0 win at D.C. United. Seattle and Chivas opened up a five-point gap on ninth-place D.C. United in the wild-card race. For all the weekend summaries current standings and leading scorers …
“He was not fit enough for a game of that standard. The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher’s dogs.
— Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson assesses the performance of referee Alan Wiley‘s during Man U’s 2-2 tie at home with Sunderland. (Reuters)
