[VIDEO]Manchester United downed Chelsea, 2-0, in Avram Grant‘s first game as the Blues’ new manager. With Ronaldinho sidelined, Argentine Leo Messi starred for Barcelona in its win against Sevilla. Unfancied Nancy remained the leader in France’s Ligue 1, while former Mexican national team captain Tomas Boy took charge at struggling Atlas.
Author Archives: Paul Kennedy
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No surprises at Women’s World Cup
The were no surprises in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Women’s World Cup. The four winners were the three former champions — the USA (1991 and 1999), Norway (1995) and Germany (2003) — and the 2004 Olympic silver-medalist Brazil, the only unbeaten and untied team through four games at this year’s finals in China.
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UCLA’s mastery of USF continues
[RIVALS] UCLA continued its recent mastery of San Francisco with a 1-0 victory Thursday night in a battle of long-time West Coast powers before 3,143 fans at Negoesco Stadium. UCLA sophomore Chance Myers scored the game’s only goal in the 88th minute when he beat former Bruin Eric Conner in the Dons’ goal after Kyle Nakazawa‘s free kick into the penalty area wasn’t cleared.
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TV PREVIEW: International weekend headliners
Deuce is on the loose: Clint Dempsey goes for goals in four straight games when Fulham hosts Manchester City. Two early-season clashes with big implications are Barcelona-Sevilla in Spain and Roma-Juventus in Italy. But the match of the week is Manchester United-Chelsea at Old Trafford, where all the attention will be on Israeli Avram Grant, who makes his debut as interim Chelsea manager in place of Jose Mourinho.
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Virginia’s Barlow brothers are reunited — on the field
[PROFILES] What a difference a year makes. The 2006 season was a largely forgettable one for Virginia’s Barlow brothers, Jeremy and Neil, but they have recovered to lead the fourth-ranked Cavaliers to a 5-1-0 start. Both are starting in midfield, and Neil Barlow scored the first goal in a 2-1 comeback victory over Campbell on Wednesday, his third goal of the season.
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Rijkaard praises much-needed Barcelona goalfest
[CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REACTION] Barcelona took some of the pressure off its coach, Frank Rijkaard, with a thoroughly deserved 3-0 win over Lyon in their UEFA Champions League opener on Wednesday night at the Nou Camp Stadium. Rijkaard had a lot to be pleased about, beginning with Thierry Henry‘s first goal since joining Barcelona from Arsenal. Rijkaard tried to downplay the substitution of Ronaldinho, who had another quiet game for Barcelona.
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Mourinho, Chelsea’s ‘Special One,’ abruptly quits
Three years after Jose Mourinho arrived at Chelsea in a blaze of glory, he quit quietly. Having just led FC Porto to the UEFA Champions League, he delighted reporters at the press conference introducing him as Chelsea manager in 2004 by talking about himself. “Please don’t call me arrogant,” said the Portuguese coach, “but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.” Special he was with his flair for the dramatic, concluding with his shocking exit on Wednesday night.
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Beasley’s Rangers wins Champions League opener
DaMarcus Beasley became the first American player to play for two different clubs in the UEFA Champion League when he came on in the second half of Glasgow Rangers’ 2-1 victory over German champion VfB Stuttgart before almost 50,000 fans Wednesday night at Ibrox.
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Washington picks up 500th win
[MILESTONE] Junior midfielder Raphael Cox‘s goal on a free kick in the 51st minute gave 25th-ranked Washington a 1-0 win on Tuesday night over Pacific Northwest rival Portland, the 500th win in the 45-year history of the program.
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Mourinho fumes after Rosenborg holds Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
[CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REACTION/VIDEO] Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho blasted his team after it was held to a 1-1 tie by Norwegian club Rosenborg on the opening of group play in the UEFA Champions League.
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USA claims first in Women’s World Cup group
Lori Chapulny‘s goal 53 seconds into the game held up, and USA beat Nigeria, 1-0, on Tuesday to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Women’s World Cup against England. The USA clinched first place in Group A when Sweden defeated North Korea, 2-1, in the other group finale. The Americans face England in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Tianjin’s Olympic Center Stadium (TV: ESPN, live, 7:55 a.m. ET).
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Streaking BYU holds its breath against Pacific
[MONDAY ACTION] Katie Larkin‘s goal with 15 minutes remaining gave BYU a 1-0 victory over Pacific — the third time in six games the Cougars, ranked No. 16 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25, have won, 1-0, on a Larkin goal. The junior’s goal was her fourth game-winning goal for BYU, which is 5-0-1. Goalie Erika Woodbury, BYU’s career shutout record holder, has yet to concede a goal this season and leads the nation with a 0.00 goals-against average after six starts
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AC Milan opens European defense against Freddy-less Benfica
[MARQUEE MATCHUP] AC Milan begins the defense of its UEFA Champions League title at home on Tuesday against Portuguese club Benfica. American Freddy Adu isn’t in the Benfica traveling party to San Siro, where Milan will look to regain its form after a lackluster start to the 2007-08 season (one win and two ties in Serie A).
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Prinz passes Akers as all-time Women’s World Cup scoring leader
Birgit Prinz became the all-time scoring leader in the Women’s World Cup when she scored her 13th goal in Germany’s 2-0 victory over Japan Monday in Hangzhou. England claimed second place ahead of Japan on goal difference thanks to its 6-1 win over Argentina in Chengdu. Former Seton Hall and WUSA and W-League star Kelly Smith scored twice to give her four goals and a share of the tournament scoring lead. England, which is making its first appearance in the Women’s World Cup in 12 years, will now meet the Group B winner. Germany will face the Group B runner-up.
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William & Mary women humble mighty Carolina
Defending NCAA Division I women’s champion North Carolina has now lost twice in its first six games — the earliest it has lost as many as two games in its history. On opening day, it was South Carolina that upset the Tar Heels. Sunday’s upset winner was William & Mary, which prevailed, 1-0, on a late goal at the VCU/Ewing Sports Invitational at Richmond, Va.
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Saint Louis claims share of tourney title with win over Indiana
Parity has come to men’s soccer in the Midwest, where Creighton and Saint Louis knocked off then-No. 3 Indiana 48 hours apart at the Saint Louis/Nike Soccer Classic. SLU’s 2-1 win on Saturday night before 3,864 fans gave it a share of the tournament title with Creighton, which had beaten Indiana by the same score on Thursday.
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Brazil leads way going into Women’s World Cup group finales
Led by the reigning FIFA Player of the Year Marta (two goals and two assists), Brazil put in the most dominating performance of the Women’s World Cup when it crushed host China, 4-0, Friday in Wuhan. No team clinched a berth in the final eight going into the group finales Monday-Wednesday. Only Argentina and Ghana have no chance going into their third game. Here’s how the group races look …
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USA looks to extend unbeaten streak to 50 games
[WOMEN’S WORLD CUP] After a 2-0 win over Sweden on Friday thanks to a pair of goals by Abby Wambach — the second on a superb half-volley — the USA faces Nigeria on Tuesday to close out group play at the Women’s World Cup. A tie would be enough to put the USA into the quarterfinals, but it may need a big win (or some help from Sweden against North Korea) to avoid a potential showdown with defending champion Germany in the quarterfinals.
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WEEKEND WRAPUP: International Soccer Headliners
Arsenal is leading the English Premier League after its 3-1 win at Tottenham, while Thierry Henry’s new club Barcelona, failed to score in a 0-0 tie at Osasuna. Canadian Jonathan De Guzman, one of the hottest prospects on the European scene, kept Feyenoord in first place in the Dutch Eredivisie. In Portugal, there was a third coaching casualty in four weeks. Soccer America continues its review of the weekend’s big international news with its International Soccer Headliners series …
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Creighton makes case as Midwest’s best
Creighton just may have the best men’s team in the Midwest this season. The Bluejays knocked off No. 3 Indiana on Thursday night, 2-1, at the Saint Louis/Nike Classic. Tim Walters, son of the former Indiana star of the same name, and Tim Bohnenkamp scored, as the Bluejays (3-0-2) dominated the match at Hermann Stadium.
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TV PREVIEW: International Weekend Headliners
European clubs are back action after a week off for Euro ’08 qualifying, and Liverpool’s Rafael Benitez isn’t happy with the the Reds’ early kickoff on Saturday. French Thierry Henry will look for his first La Liga goal with Barcelona. The Altintop twins, Hamit and Halil, square off in a Bundesliga clash of giants. In Argentina, struggling River Plate must rebound after a disastrous midweek result. Soccer America’s International Weekend Headliners series continues with a look at what’s on TV.
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Women’s World Cup TV ratings in perspective
When the Americans opened play against North Korea at the 2007 Women’s World Cup on Tuesday morning, only 195,000 U.S. households were watching ESPN2’s early-morning telecast from China. But its reairing of the USA-North Korea game on Tuesday evening drew an audience of more than 340,000 households. Here’s putting those viewerships in perspective …
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Red-hot UConn rolls on
Red-hot Connecticut continued its fine start to the 2007 men’s season with a 2-0 win over CAA power Hofstra on Wednesday night. The No. 2 ranked Huskies feature one of the most versatile attacks in the country. In the only midweek game involving a Top 25 men’s team, No. 11 Harvard won, 2-0, at Vermont on Tuesday.
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Big Ten men are off to flying starts
No men’s conference can match the Big Ten in terms of success over the first two weekends of the season. The five teams in the Soccer America Top 25 — No. 3 Indiana, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 17 Northwestern, No. 19 Michigan and No. 20 Wisconsin — are a combined 16-1-3. Add to that unranked Michigan State, which is 4-0-0, and you have six of the seven Big Ten teams off to flying starts. Not bad for a conference that only sent two teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2006!
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U.S. Soccer welcomes 26 new U-17 residents
U.S. Soccer’s under-17 residency program’s fall semester kicked off last week with 48 players enrolled in the program at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. There are 26 players — 22 ’92s and four ’91s — beginning their first semester of training. The group in residency includes 14 players who recently represented the USA at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup in South Korea. All 10 players born in 1990 will finish up their high school education this semester while training in the program.