Cheating on the soccer field would decrease if we got rid of the referees, says Gijs van Oenen, a professor of ethics, legal philosophy and social philosophy at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. According to Ode magazine, van Oenen theorizes that in soccer-sans-refs there would be more arguments at first, “but soon players would realize those arguments were solvable.” Because officials are merely stand-ins for the rule books, players would in their absence begin following the rules, figures van Oenen.
Author Archives: Mike Woitalla
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Adu and plenty of newbies in U.S. roster
Coach Bob Bradley‘s 21-man roster to prepare for the USA’s Oct. 17 friendly at Switzerland is comprised of three MLS players and 18 European-based players, including three German-based players (Steve Purdy, Preston Zimmermann and Sal Zizzo) who have yet to play for their clubs’ first teams. Freddy Adu has a chance to make his second appearance for the full national team, for which he appeared once, in early 2006. Seven players on the roster are uncapped.
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OFF THE POST: ‘He’s clocked him one in the jewels’
[VIDEO] Midfielder Joel Griffiths of Australian club Newcastle United Jets escaped with a yellow card for striking a linesman in a manner that one TV commentator described with “He’s clocked him one in the jewels” and another called a “short jab in the nether regions.”
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Women coaches work for Germany
Only three of the 16 teams at the 2007 Women’s World Cup were head-coached by women: Germany (Silvia Neid), England (Hope Powell) and China (Marika Domanski-Lyfors). Germany’s title win marked the second time a female coach won the Women’s World Cup. Tina Theune-Meyer guided Germany to 2003 World Cup title while assisted by Neid, who took the helm in July 2005. Third-place USA had an all-male coaching staff: Greg Ryan, assisted by Bret Hall, Phil Wheddon and Billy McNicol
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Frauenfussball grows in Germany
When Germany won the 1989 Women’s European Championship, the players’ bonuses consisted of a coffee set. Each member of Germany’s victorious 2007 Women’s World Cup team earned a bonus of $70,000. The team was also greeted by 15,000 fans at Frankfurt’s Roemer city hall, the traditional celebration point for victorious teams, when it returned from China following its 2-0 final win over Brazil, which drew high TV ratings in Germany.
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John Doyle: Keeping the Focus on the Kids
U.S. World Cup veteran John Doyle chose the youth game over coaching in MLS. When John Doyle looks at youth soccer today and his own experience as a kid, the differences he sees are profound. "Girls commit to college programs when they're sophomores in high school!" says Doyle, the Director of Coaching of Mustang […]
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How Barcelona Spawns Stars
Barcelona can buy any player it wants, but maintains an ambitious and successful youth program. There's a large crowd of people in the plaza area surrounding Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, many of them are wearing jerseys with Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o on the back. But there's no game today. It's a Thursday afternoon, the team […]
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Reevaluating the Residency Program
In light of poor results at this year's U-17 World Cup, the launch of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, and MLS's move into the youth arena, it's time to reassess U.S. Soccer's 9-year-old Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. The preparation process for the USA's first appearance at the U-17 World Cup, in 1985, didn't much […]
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Brilliant Brazil exposes inconvenient truth
[VIDEO] Regardless of which keeper stood between the U.S. posts, what mistakes Coach Greg Ryan made or the red card to Shannon Boxx, the difference between the teams in Brazil’s 4-0 rout of the USA was skill. Dribbling, trapping, shooting, passing. Brazil topped each category. And Brazil entertained.
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OFF THE POST: Austrians turn on own team
A group of Austrian fans have started a petition that so far yielded 4,000 signatures urging the Austrian national team not to participate in the 2008 European Championship it is co-hosting with Switzerland. “This is not about criticizing players or coaches,” said Michael Kriess, one of the petition instigators. “We simply say that the way Austria is playing is an insult to our, to every fan’s aesthetic understanding of the game.” The petitioners say watching Coach Josef Hickersberger‘s team is detrimental to one’s mental health.
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Fans fight to save USL’s California Victory
Fans of San Francisco’s USL-1 club, the California Victory, have launched a campaign to save the franchise after the original owner, Spanish club Alaves, withdrew its support. The California Victory Supporters Association, known as “The 1906,” are selling shares at $100 a pop at ww.savethevictory.org . Meanwhile, the club is negotiating with domestic and foreign investors. “The 1906 are a very determined group of supporters who brought a great atmosphere to our games,” said Victory coach Glenn Van Straatum. “They’re demonstrating that we have a good core of fans with the potential to grow into a strong support base.”
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A goal for the ages
[SPORTSMANSHIP] In English League Cup play on Tuesday, Leicester City allowed Nottingham Forest to take the ball from the opening kickoff and score without opposition. Leicester City came back to win, 3-2, in what was a replay of the match last month that was abandoned at halftime because Leicester player Clive Clarke suffered a heart attack. Forest was leading, 1-0, when the original match was abandoned, but that goal did not carry over into the replay.
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Youth Beat: U.S. Soccer Development Academy
The U.S. Soccer Federation has integrated the country’s top youth clubs into the national team program. This fall marks the launch of a youth league in which every game will be an audition for the national team program. By creating the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, for U-16 and U-18 boys, the Federation is in effect […]
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The Soccer Life: Soccer Smoothes the Path
Soccer helped cure homesickness and eased the challenge of adjusting to a new land for a group of young stars we met at this summer’s adidas ESP scouting and development camp for the nation’s top teen players. Enzo Martinez (Rock Hill, S.C.)‘HOW LUCKY I AM’ When Uruguay played Australia for a spot in the 2006 […]
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Mexico calls up 20-year-old U.S.-born Castillo
Edgar Castillo, who was born and raised in Las Cruces, N.M., has been named to Mexico’s roster by Coach Hugo Sanchez for its friendly against Colombia in Commerce City, Colo., on Wednesday. Castillo, who has dual citizenship, has not been called into U.S. national team or Olympic (U-23) camps despite starting at left back for Santos Laguna of the Mexican First Division since January.
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U.S. Soccer: Why the Development Academy?
Whether to pursue entry into U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy wasn’t an easy choice for many of the nation’s top clubs, particularly in areas like North Texas and Southern California, where clubs are already entrenched in highly competitive leagues.
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Youth: Gottschee Embraces New Era
Members of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy for its inaugural 2007-08 season are mainly suburban clubs that grew out of the late 20th century’s youth soccer boom. But New York City’s BW Gottschee has been fielding youth teams for 50 years. Ben Boehm isn’t your typical Director of Coaching. He doesn’t earn tens of thousands […]
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Rennie: Dean of College Coaches
Duke coach John Rennie is still going strong in his fourth decade of Division I coaching. Legend has it that Chatham High School in New Jersey had abandoned its football program early in the last century because the mayor’s son had broken his neck on the gridiron. So back in the 1960s, top young Chatham […]
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Majority of Top 20 boys clubs in U.S. Soccer Academy
The number of clubs accepted to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy for its inaugural 2007-08 season has reached 47 with the addition of 16 clubs announced Monday. U.S. Soccer, which is launching the boys U-16 and U-18 league as an extension of its national team program, has reviewed more than 100 applications and announced “only a limited number of remaining spots are available” for the first season. Of the clubs accepted so far, 14 are ranked among Soccer America Magazine’s 2007 Top 20 Boys Clubs. The latest group of clubs to be accepted includes California’s Arsenal SC (No. 3 in Soccer America rankings) and Irvine Strikers (16), Missouri’s Scott Gallagher (8) and Florida’s Schulz Academy (19).
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OFF THE POST: Japan coach brings interpreter to tears; befuddles press
After Japan played Qatar to a disappointing 1-1 tie in the Asian Cup, Japan’s Bosnian coach Ivica Osim railed into his players, calling them a bunch of amateurs, and so on. But just some of the rant got through to the team, because translator Zen Chida broke into tears midway through the tirade. Then on the eve of Japan’s game against Vietnam, Osim told the members of the media, “Stop asking me about rabbits!”
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U.S. SOCCER ACADEMY: FC Westchester
[YOUTH CLUB PROFILE SERIES] FC Westchester, which was founded by Al Pastore in 1984, is among the first 31 clubs accepted to the U.S. Soccer Player Development Academy for its inaugural season this fall. Soccer America’s Mike Woitalla profiles one of New York’s most prestigious clubs.
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Taming the Wild West
Creating the U.S. Soccer Development Academy is the USSF’s first step in trying to take advantage of the strengths of American youth soccer while tackling its flaws.
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U.S. Abroad 2006-07: Americans Shine and Suffer
A record number of Americans saw English Premier League and German Bundesliga action in 2006-07, and a 20-year-old U.S. export played regularly in the Mexican League — but relegation victims included venerable legionnaires Kasey Keller and Eddie Lewis.
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U.S. Soccer Academy adds 10 more teams
[YOUTH] U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy, which is accepting applications from youth clubs through the end of July for its inaugural season, has added 10 more teams, including the youth clubs of MLS’s D.C. United, Chicago Fire and Red Bull New York, and USL’s Richmond Kickers. Those additions, plus the Colorado Rush, Potomac Soccer (Md.), Real Colorado (Colorado), Richmond Strikers (Va.), VA Rush Soccer Club (Va.) and Washington Premier FC raised the number of accepted clubs to 31.
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USA has world’s most registered youth players
The USA leads the world in registered youth soccer players, according to a FIFA’s Big Count survey. The USA has 3.9 million registered youth players (2.34 million boys and 1.56 million girls). Brazil (2.1 million) and Germany (1.3 million) rank second and third, followed by South Africa (1.3 million), France (1 million) and England (820,000).