Author Archives: Paul Kennedy

[PDL] The Premier Development League has moved into the quarterfinals with a pair of games set for Friday in Des Moines, Iowa, and Laredo, Texas. The quarterfinalists represent the fourth division summer league’s dynamic blend of the new and the old, including teams affiliated with the Chicago Fire, Burnley and the IMG Academies, a first-year team from the Puget Sound area and a Southern California team that had its first player signed by an English Premier League club.

[BARCELONA TOUR] In a summer highlighted by huge crowds across the country for international matches, the biggest crowd of the summer should turn out Saturday at the Rose Bowl, where the Los Angeles Galaxy hosts European champion Barcelona on the first game of the Spanish club’s three-game West Coast tour (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 11 pm ET). In addition to the stars from last season’s triple championship team, newly acquired Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be in Pasadena for his second game in two weeks and Mexican teenager Jonathan Dos Santos is in the traveling squad.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Four days after being in goal for the USA in its 5-0 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, Troy Perkins was back in action, this time playing for Norwegian club in in its 2-1 loss at Greek club PAOK in the first leg of the third round of qualifying for the new Europa League. Of the four Americans in action on Thursday, the star was Californian Ryan Guy, who assisted on the winning goal in Irish club St. Patrick’s 1-0 win at Russian club Krylya Sovetov.

[WPS] Referee Jose Carlos Rivero decision to eject Boston Breakers defender Alex Scott for her studs-up tackle — a clear red-card offense — on Washington’s French international, Sonia Bompastor, five minutes into Wednesday’s game didn’t sit well with Boston coach Tony DiCicco, who for the second time this year ripped the Women’s Professional Soccer refereeing after the game.

[TELEVISION WATCH] Former U.S. national team star Eric Wynalda, replaced by former teammate John Harkes as the lead color person on ESPN2’s MLS coverage, will be returning to the air as Nick Webster‘s co-host of Fox Football Fone-In, replacing the controversial Steve Cohen.

[MEXICO-USA] Mexico coach Javier Aguirre rewarded El Tri’s heroes for the 5-0 dismantling of the USA in the Gold Cup final, calling up all but two starters for the Aug. 12 showdown with the USA in World Cup 2010 qualifying. Barcelona star Rafael Marquez was one of eight players in the 20-players squad who played last season in Europe. The Chicago Fire’s Cuauhtemoc Blanco was also recalled for the game at Azteca Stadium.

[WPS] Abby Wambach‘s second-half goal gave the Washington Freedom a 1-0 win over the visiting Boston Breakers that propelled it into third place ahead of the Breakers and eliminated last-place FC Gold Pride from playoff contention.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Young American Eric Lichaj has earned starts in back-to-back games for English club Aston Villa at right back at the Peace Cup in Spain.

[WOMEN’S WATCH] Saint Louis Athletic defender Sara Larsson will be headed to the 2009 European Women’s Championship after the WPS season. She is the only one of four WPS Swedes called up by Coach Thomas Dennerby for the finals next month in Finland.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] One former Boston College star lit up Swedish soccer, and another ex-Eagle is following in his footsteps. After U.S. international Charlie Davies, who parlayed a solid stint at Hammarby into a transfer to French club Sochaux, Floridian Alejandro Bedoya celebrated his first two goals with Orebro, scoring both goals after coming on in the 78th minute of Monday’s 2-2 tie with BK Hacken.

[TELEVISION WATCH] Never heard of mun2? If you’re a U.S. soccer fan, you’ll need to find it on your dial if you hope to watch Mexico-USA on English-language television. Check here to find where mun2 is available …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Benny Feilhaber, one of the players who left the U.S. national team during the Gold Cup to return to his European club, continued his outstanding summer ball with perhaps his best game yet for Danish club AGF Aarhus. He finished off a brilliant maneuver with his first goal as a pro — the third goal in a 3-2 win at Randers Monday that gave it six points and first place in the 2009-10 Danish SuperLigaen after two rounds.

[WORLD CUP 2018/2022] U.S. President Barack Obama met with FIFA President Sepp Blatter Monday to discuss soccer, in particular the U.S. bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Blatter reportedly joked that while Obama, who was presented with soccer balls for daughters and tried juggling a ball, wasn’t ready to make the U.S. national team that played Brazil in the recent Confederations Cup final, he could have made the team that lost to Mexico, 5-0, in the Gold Cup final …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] While Mexico’s national team was celebrating its Gold Cup title at Giants Stadium and Club America was playing Chelsea at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Mexican clubs got down to business in the First Division’s Torneo Apertura. Jose Francisco Torres, the lone Mexico-based American on the U.S. Confederations Cup roster, did not suit up for Pachuca on the opening day of the 2009 Torneo Apertura, but four other Americans — including two who spent most of last season in the minor leagues — played.

[WPS] Allie Long scored what could prove to be one of the most important goals of the Women’s Professional Soccer season when the former Penn State and North Carolina star scored in the 89th minute to give the Washington Freedom to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Red Stars that moved it into a tie with Sky Bue FC for fourth place. The loss ended sixth-place Chicago’s slim playoff hopes.

[WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE] Sunday was a big day for English club Chelsea. Captain John Terry confirmed he was staying at Chelsea, spurning an offer from Manchester City, and the Blues clinched the World Football Challenge with a 2-0 win over Mexico’s Club America before 57,229 fans at Jerry World — Jerry Jones‘ new Dallas Cowboys Stadium dubbed a stadium like no other in the world by Chelsea star Andriy Shevchenko.

[WPS] The Los Angeles Sol clinched the inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer regular-season title in anticlimactic fashion. Its 0-0 tie at last-place FC Gold Pride gave it the title with two games to spare and a bye into the WPS Championship at the Home Depot Center on Aug. 22 (TV: Fox Sports Net and select regional outlets, live, 4 pm ET/1 pm PT).

[GOLD CUP] Mexico survived the disappointment of conceding the tying goal three minutes into stoppage time at the end of regulation to defeat Costa Rica in a shootout Thursday and move into Sunday’s Gold Cup final against the USA, a repeat of the final won by the Americans two years ago.

[NSCAA] Longtime soccer executive Joe Cummings is leaving his post as president and general manager of WPS’s Boston Breakers to become the new CEO and executive director of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

[WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE] The Georgia Dome’s second 50,000-plus crowd in a month watched American Oguchi Onyewu make his debut for Italian club AC Milan on Wednesday. It was an inauspicious debut, however, as Onyewu was the defender beaten on Club America’s first goal — well-taken by Enrique Esqueda — 10 minutes after entering the game and the Mexican club went win, 2-1.