Defending champions Germany set a Women’s World Cup record when it beat Argentina, 11-0, for the biggest rout in the history of the tournament, but three-time World Player of the Year Birgit Prinz was not satisfied.
Author Archives: Paul Kennedy
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ACC powers take it on the chin
Last week began with ACC teams ranked 1-2-3-4 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25, but only No. 1 Wake Forest emerged unscathed. Duke was tripped up by Villanova, 1-0, on Friday. Virginia got a rude welcome from SMU on its first trip to Texas in 20 years, falling, 5-1. Maryland fell at home to West Virginia, 1-0, on a goal 35 seconds into overtime.
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WINNERS & LOSERS: Euro 2008 Qualifying
Steve McClaren‘s patch-work England squad captured its must-win showdown with Israel. Strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Miroslav Klose came up big for the Netherlands and Germany, respectively. Keeper Ricardo‘s blunder cost Portugal two points. The Italy-France game in Milan was marred by an ugly display by San Siro fans.
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Five reasons why the USA will win the Women’s World Cup
[THE FAVORITES] Soccer America continues its examination of the favorites with a look at the USA, which heads into the 2007 Women’s World Cup as the odds-on favorite. After all, they are undefeated in their last 47 games and have yet to lose under their rigorous coach, Greg Ryan. The U.S. women believe they may be the best women’s team ever assembled. They are surely “The Greatest Team You’ve Never Heard Of,” as they have been billed by team sponsor Nike. They take to the field for the first time on Tuesday when they face North Korea in Chengdu (TV: ESPN2, live, 4:55 am ET). Here are five reasons why the USA will win the Womens World Cup.
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Goal Patrol, UConn’s secret weapon
Who has the best fans in men’s college soccer? In recent years, Maryland’s Ludwig Field has been a happening place. UC Santa Barbara’s supporters are the best on the West Coast. But for a quarter century, the atmosphere at UConn games has been unsurpassed. The No. 6 Huskies’ Goal Patrol will be at work this weekend for their matches against South Carolina and FIU at the UConn/adidas Classic.
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TV PREVIEW: Four Euro ’08 Qualifiers to Watch
The first of three double fixture weekends to conclude Euro 2008 qualifying takes place on Saturday. It’s highlighted by a Group A match between Italy and France, the 2006 World Cup finalists, in Milan. Also on tab are England-Israel, Portugal-Poland and the Netherlands-Bulgaria — all matches critical to the campaigns of the home teams.
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Young midfield holds key to Germany’s Women’s World Cup chances
[THE FAVORITES] Soccer America begins its examination of the favorites to win the Women’s World Cup with a look at defending Women’s World Cup champion Germany, which starts its title defense Monday when it faces Argentina in the opening game of the 2007 finals at the 34,000-seat Shanghai Hongkou Football in China. Three-time Women’s World Player of the Year Birgit Prinz leads the German attack, but a young midfield featuring highly touted Kosovo-born Fatmire Bajramaj could hold the key to success.
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TV Game of the Week begins Thursday
Fox Soccer Channel’s weekly coverage of college soccer begins Thursday when No. 23 Connecticut hosts No. 21 Penn State in women’s action at 8 p.m. ET. NSCAA College Match of the Week coverage in 2007 will include eight women’s matches played on Thursdays and nine men’s matches on Fridays. There will also be bonus coverage of three men’s matches played on Wednesday evenings throughout the season. For a look at Penn State and UConn …
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Fast starts for first-year Florida Gulf Coast programs
How about this for your first-year Division I program’s inaugural weekend: You open with a 10-0 and then turn around two days later and win, 3-2, in overtime to capture your first tournament. That’s what happened to the Florida Gulf Coast women, winners of their Embassy Suites Kick-Off Classic. The FGCU men’s team — the first from-scratch Division I men’s program to be launched since 2000 — didn’t do too badly itself, winning its opening game, 3-2, over Coastal Carolina.
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Big Blue find solace in soccer success
It will do little heal the sorrow of Michigan faithful after the Wolverines’ epic football loss to Appalachian State at the Big House last Saturday, but the Wolverine men’s soccer team made a statement last weekend. Led by a pair of exciting sophomores Mauro Fuzetti and Peri Marosevic, Michigan is making a case for itself as one of this year’s darkhorses in the Division I men’s ranks.
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Bradley draws inspiration from late teammate
Less than three weeks after the death of teammate Danny Dahlquist in a fire that resulted in three other former players facing criminal charges, Bradley University opened its 2007 season with a pair of wins. As the Braves seek a return to normalcy, they head the Wake Forest adidas Classic, where they face No. 1 Wake Forest and North Carolina this weekend.
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Soccer’s $2 billion summer industry
An increase in television revenues and the arrival of new owners have triggered record spending by English Premier League clubs on the transfer market. English teams spent more than 530 million pounds ($1.1 billion) on players on the 2007 winter and summer markets, according to a report by Deloitte & Touche LLP. Spending by teams from Europe’s big 5 leagues during the summer window that ended Aug. 31 totaled about $2 billion.
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Top-ranked UCLA falls to Notre Dame and Indiana
It was a long Labor Day weekend for UCLA, the No. 1 team in Soccer America’s Preseason Men’s Top 25 rankings. The Bruins dropped both games at the adidas/IU Credit Union Hoosier Classic, losing, 2-1, to Notre Dame in overtime on Friday and, 1-0, to Indiana on Sunday.
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WEEKEND ROUNDUP: International Soccer Headliners
[VIDEO] Soccer America begins its weekly series, during the international club season, reviewing the weekend’s big TV matches, with a look at the players, coaches and matches making headlines around the world. Chelsea fell back into a tie with Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton at the top of the English Premier League after dropping a 2-0 decision at Aston Villa that prompted Blues manager Jose Mourinho to say the big teams will not have an easy ride in 2007-08. At the other end of the EPL table, Spurs’ struggles are putting pressure on Dutch manager Martin Jol. Dutch youngster Wesley Sneijder is off to a flying start at Real Madrid, while Juventus also remained perfect since returning to Serie A thanks to a dramatic 3-2 win at Cagliari.
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Irish eyes on showdown with No. 1 UCLA
[MEN’S PREVIEW] Notre Dame will open the 2007 campaign Friday at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic when the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish face No. 1 UCLA. It was at last year’s tournament in Bloomington that Joseph Lapira scored four goals in a 5-4 win over Indiana, beginning his remarkable campaign that resulted in his being named the Soccer America Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy winner. Notre Dame, which meets No. 7 Maryland on Sunday, is coming off a hot preseason during which it topped No. 18 New Mexico and No. 16 Northwestern by identical 3-0 scores.
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UEFA Champions League Odds
Following Thursday’s draw in Monaco, Barcelona was installed by British bookmaker Ladbrokes as the odds-on favorite to win the 2008 UEFA Champions League. Barcelona was given 11-2 odds despite the fact the Catalan club was placed in Group D, arguably the toughest of the eight groups, along with six-time French champion Lyon and German Bundesliga champion Stuttgart. Chelsea and Manchester United are second favorites at 7-1, followed by Inter Milan and AC Milan at 9-1.
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Chances of U.S.-hosted World Cup any time soon appear to shrink
If we were to project out the implications of a proposed in FIFA system’s to award World Cup hosts, don’t count on the World Cup returning to the United States any time before 2026. That appears to be the effect of the proposed new FIFA bidding process revealed by Reuters’ FIFA sources on Thursday in Monaco, where much of Europe’s top soccer brass was assembled for the ceremonial kickoff to the new soccer season, the UEFA Champions League draw and other UEFA events.
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Beckham bumps MLSnet.com visitors
What has the impact of David Beckham‘s signing with MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy been online? Worldwide traffic to Major League Soccer’s web site, mlsnet.com, more doubled between July 2006 and July 2007 when Beckham debuted against Chelsea.
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TV PREVIEW: International Weekend Headliners
Soccer America begins a weekly series, during the international club season, previewing the weekend’s big TV matches, with a look at the players, coaches and matches making headlines around the world. Today we look at Michael Owen, Roy Keane, the Hamburg-Bayern Munich match in Germany and Atlante-Santos in Mexico.
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Women’s title contenders are all loaded with explosive attacks
[WOMEN’S TOP 25 PREVIEWS: 1-10] Defending champion North Carolina is No. 1 in Soccer America’s preseason women’s rankings, edging Notre Dame and UCLA, which the Tar Heels beat in the final and semifinals, respectively, at the 2006 Women’s College Cup. Carolina and Notre Dame met last week in a thrilling exhibition game that ended in a 2-2 tie before a record crowd in South Bend, Ind.
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UCLA has depth to withstand Zizzo exit and Estrada injury
[MEN’S TOP 25 PREVIEWS: 1-10] Top-ranked UCLA lost U.S. U-20 Sal Zizzo, who signed with German club Hannover, and won’t have Soccer America Freshman of the Year David Estrada for perhaps the first three weeks of the season, but the Bruins still have plenty of firepower.
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Beasley and Rangers return to Champions League
DaMarcus Beasley is returning to the Champions League. With the American winger a second-half substitute, Scottish club Rangers clinched a spot in the group stage thanks to a 0-0 tie at Serbian powerhouse Red Star in Belgrade on Tuesday night. The draw gave Rangers a 1-0 victory on aggregate in the third qualifying round.
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Under-17 World Cup Preview
[VIDEO] The U.S. U-17 boys national team looks to advance to the knockout phase of the Under-17 World Cup for the third straight time when it competes at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup that begins Saturday in South Korea. The USA, which opens play against Tajikistan in Changwon on Monday (TV: ESPNU, live, 6:45 am ET), is the only country to have qualified for every U-17 world championship since FIFA’s youngest boys championship was launched as a U-16 championship in 1985.
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Bradley cancels Saturday’s scrimmage following player’s death
Bradley has canceled its annual preseason men’s Red-White scrimmage, scheduled for Saturday, but will open the regular season as scheduled on Aug. 31 at home against Lipscomb after the death of Danny Dahlquist in a fire allegedly set by four young men, including three teammates, a botched fireworks prank on Sunday at their home in West Peoria, Ill.
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FC Dallas sends unsettled Nunez to Chivas USA
Chivas USA acquired unsettled Honduran international Ramon Nunez in a trade with FC Dallas for a conditional 2009 SuperDraft pick. Nunez, a 21-year-old midfielder and U.S. green-card holder, could debut Saturday when Chivas USA faces Toronto FC at BMO Field.