Author Archives: Paul Kennedy

[AMERICANS ABROAD] For the first time ever, six Americans played in an English Premier League game when Fulham edged Everton, 1-0, on Sunday. Brian McBride scored for the Cottagers on a header in the second half, beating fellow Yank Tim Howard in the Everton goal for the game’s only tally. McBride, Kasey Keller and Eddie Johnson started for Fulham, and Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey came on as substitutes. Fulham’s five Americans were a record for one EPL team.

[SCOUTING REPORT] Group B in Concacaf’s Olympic men’s qualifying begins on Wednesday at the Home Depot Center, where Mexico is the heavy favorite. Led by Marvin Avila, who scored two goals against Mexico’s national team in October, Guatemala could provide the Tri’s most difficult test. Lack of preparation is an issue for the other two teams in Group B, Canada and Haiti.

[SCOUTING REPORT] It’s been more than 20 years since the USA has lost a game in Olympic men’s qualifying to a team other than Mexico with a berth still at stake. The Americans will be heavily favored in Group A of the 2008 CONCACAF qualifying tournament that begins Tuesday in Tampa. A first-place finish in the group will set up a date against the runner-up from Group B with an Olympic berth on the line March 20 at Nashville’s LP Field. Here’s a look at Group A opponents Cuba, Honduras and Panama.

[WINNERS & LOSERS] A day after defending champion AC Milan went out at home, nine-time champion Real Madrid was upset by Roma, 2-1, to fall in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the fourth straight year. Chelsea made it 3-for-3 for English clubs when it disposed of Olympiakos, while Schalke 04 had 21-year-old goalie Manuel Neuer to thank for its series victory over favored Porto.

[NAMES & NUMBERS] Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says Argentine Carlos Tevez reminds him of Frenchman Eric Cantona, the King of Old Trafford during his reign at Manchester United in the 1990s. Tevez has already played a key role in the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 series between United and Lyon that concludes on Tuesday. Young attackers Robin van Persie and Kazim Kazim could play key roles for Arsenal and Fenerbahce, respectively, on the road. The team with the longest odds is Scottish champion Celtic, which hopes to end a long drought with a victory at Barcelona.

[PAN-PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIP] There wasn’t much “sexy soccer” so dear to Ruud Gullit to be found on display from his Los Angeles Galaxy for a small crowd on hand on Day 1 of the Pan-Pacific Championship in Honolulu. Indeed, the new collection of Galaxy players supporting David Beckham — who went the entire 90 minutes — looked quite dreadful in a 1-0 loss to undermanned Japanese club Gamba Osaka. By comparison, the MLS champion Houston Dynamo was in mid-season form, coasting to a 3-0 victory over Australia’s Sydney FC.

[IN THE SPOTLIGHT] The UEFA Champions League resumes with the first leg of the round of 16. Here’s a look at some key protagonists in this week’s battles, from Chelsea defender Alex to Porto’s scoring machine, Lisandro Lopez

[ENGLAND WATCH] Luke Steele, once considered Manchester United’s next-great goalkeeping prospect, had not played in two months and had only made two appearances in the last year, so he jumped at the chance to join Barnsley on loan from League Championship (second division) rival West Bromwich and start against mighty Liverpool in Saturday’s FA Cup match.

[CANADA] Canada’s national team program took another knock when 20-year-old Jonathan De Guzman, considered one of international soccer’s hottest prospects, decided to play for the Netherlands instead of Canada, for which his older brother, Julian, is a key player.

[TV WATCH] France’s Ligue 1 has many structural weaknesses that make the French domestic game lag behind that of other major European countries. Despite its weaknesses, the French league (LFP) will earn almost $1 billion a year in television revenue. Driving the big money offered in bidding that concluded this week is the multi-media marketing tactic of bundling familiar to American consumers but now being introduced by France Telecom.

[WORLD CUP WATCH] The long road to South Africa began in CONCACAF on Sunday with a surprise as Cayman Islands tied Bermuda, 1-1, in Hamilton. The attention of U.S. fans will be focused on the match Wednesday in Roseau, where Dominica hosts Barbados at Windsor Park.

[OLYMPIC WATCH] Argentina barely qualified for the 2008 Olympics when it beat Uruguay, 1-0, on a 92nd-minute goal dubbed a “miracle” on the final day of qualifying at the Sudamericano 2007, but it heads into 2008 favored to defend its gold medal in men’s soccer. Los Angeles soccer fans will get a chance to watch Argentina’s Olympic hopefuls when they face Guatemala next Wednesday at the Coliseum. Among the players in the squad arriving on Friday is national team star Juan Roman Riquelme, whose presence in the squad for the Guatemala is an indication that he should be one of Argentina’s three overage players at this summer’s finals.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] U.S. international Michael Bradley scored in Heerenveen’s 5-1 win over VVV on Wednesday, making it the third straight game in which that he has scored since the resumption of play in the Dutch Eredivisie. Bradley, whose stock has risen sharply on the European transfer market, set a season record for goals by an American-bred and -born player in a European first division.

[U.S. WOMEN] The USA completed a sweep of the the Four Nations Tournament in Coach Pia Sundhage‘s debut tournament when it beat host China, 1-0, in its final game on Sunday.

[PREVIEW] The 2008 African Nations Cup kicks off Sunday when host Ghana faces Guinea in Accra. With such international stars as the Black Stars’ Michael Essien, Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, the African championship is now arguably the second most popular continental championship in the world behind the European Championship. It is certainly the most impactful. Dozens of players were reluctantly released by top-level clubs across Europe for the three-week tournament. For a look at the tournament, television information and our predictions ..