This game could have been over by halftime, or at the very least put away with eight minutes left; instead the USA sweated out several minutes of stoppage time before the referee’s whistle extinguished the flickering hopes of Panama, 2-1, in the Gold Cup quarterfinals at Gillette Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Author Archives: Ridge Mahoney
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USA REPORT CARD: Donovan, Mastroeni shine against Panama
Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 2-1 Gold Cup quarterfinal win over Panama.
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High scores and high drama in MLS
Eastern Conference teams scored 20 goals in their four games as D.C. United belted Chicago, Toronto derailed Dallas in a battle of the FCs, and six-goal deadlocks resulted from the New York-Kansas City and New England-Columbus tussles. In the West, Chivas USA extended Colorado’s losing streak to three matches, and the Galaxy knocked off RSL in the battle of the basement. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reports on last weekend’s MLS action.
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Panama aims to end American hex
Twice in the recent past Panama has stretched the United States nearly to the breaking point. Saturday at Gillette Stadium (4 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel, Univision) Panama will get a chance to finally snap the American hex against it in the first big competitive test of the U.S. national team under Bob Bradley. The U.S. is 4-0-2 against Panama and has won the last four games by shutout. Yet there have been a few close calls.
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Same old outcome for FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake
Whoops, they did it again. For the third time this season, Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas fought a close game, and once again, a slice of superb finishing denied RSL the result it knew it deserved. Dominic Oduro drilled a low shot just inside the far post two minutes into stoppage time to beat RSL, 1-0, Thursday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium. RSL coach Jason Kreis was ejected for vehemently protesting a collision he believed merited at least a RSL free kick
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Wizards and Red Bulls meet in battle of MLS Eastern leaders
[MLS WEEKEND PREVIEWS] The top two teams in the Eastern Conference square off after playing each other two weeks ago, reeling Chicago visits resurgent D.C. United, Toronto and Los Angeles play home games after swinging yet another trade, the Revs and Crew round off a triple-header, and with Houston off this week, Colorado heads to Home Depot Center for a crucial Western Conference encounter with Chivas USA.
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Prime-time pummeling on tap?
[TV PREVIEW] Thursday’s ESPN2 game looks like the mother of all mismatches. But it’s not. Western Conference leader FC Dallas (6-5-1) visits last-place Real Salt Lake (0-3-6), the only MLS team yet to post a victory and smarting from fines and other disciplinary measures meted out by MLS (kickoff: 9 pm ET).
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Efficient U.S. attack overruns El Salvador at the Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is derided for its slipshod organization and paltry promotion in English-language outlets, but as a competitive event, in many respects it stands up. Case in point: For all the importance placed on a team winning its first game, just doing so is no guarantee of advancement, even with two of the three third-place teams qualifying for the quarterfinals along with the top two in each group. El Salvador opened with a 2-1 victory over Trinidad & Tobago the same day the USA scraped past Guatemala, 1-0, at Home Depot Center. By the time they met at Gillette Stadium Tuesday, the Americans were rolling and the Salvadorans reeling. Result: 4-0 to the USA, thanks to a DaMarcus Beasley blinder (scored two goals, set up another), single tallies by Taylor Twellman and Landon Donovan, and the Salvadorans’ bothersome habit of misfiring on the few chances they had to claw their way back into the competition.
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RECORD CARD: Beasley has a blinder against El Salvador
Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 4-0 Gold Cup win over El Salvador …
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USA remains on course by grinding out points
Three days after clinching a spot in the Gold Cup quarterfinals by beating Trinidad & Tobago, the USA finishes Group B play against El Salvador at Gillette Stadium needing only a point to clinch first place and with some questions to resolve (TV: Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura, live, 7 pm ET). Which forward combination, not to mention alignment, is best? Which of the eight defenders Coach Bob Bradley has used in the first two games will get the call, considering that Carlos Bocanegra and Frankie Hejduk are carrying cautions and will be suspended in the quarterfinal if they receive another one? If Pablo Mastroeni, who sat out the first two Gold Cup games serving a suspension he received at the World Cup last summer, gets a start, who plays with him in midfield? Is this a good time to recall Oguchi Onyewu, who is eligible after serving a suspension against T&T? Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney examines all of Bradley’s options …
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Problems continue for Los Angeles and Columbus
[MLS WEEKEND WRAPUP] Rough times for the Crew and Galaxy continued, and the Fire lost at home again. D.C. United, Houston and Chivas USA extended their winning streaks, and FC Dallas kept its lead in the Western Conference. For Ridge Mahoney’s breakdown on all the MLS action …
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Shaky U.S. win not much to build on
Only in light of the fact the U.S. can play erratically against a regional minnow and still win can any satisfaction be derived from its 1-0 victory over Guatemala in the Group B opener of the Gold Cup at Home Depot Center Thursday night. Guatemala had scraped out a 0-0 tie when the teams met in late March and threatened a few times to do the same after falling behind to a Clint Dempsey goal in the 26th minute set up by his former New England teammate Taylor Twellman. The USA can take some credit for preserving the victory against a spunky opponent and enduring the final 17 minutes a man short, but too often it frantically scrapped and flailed, rather than using its superior class to govern the tempo.
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REPORT CARD: Donovan and Beasley stand out
Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 1-0 Gold Cup win over Guatemala …
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Depleted Dynamo still strong enough to zap Rapids
Every team needs a Stuart Holden, a local lad with talent and spirit and a willingness to work his way off the reserve squad, onto the regular 18, and occasionally onto the field. Holden, who had played just 78 minutes this season prior to Houston’s game with Colorado Thursday, scored the winning goal just seconds after replacing Chris Wondolowski as Houston downed Colorado, 2-1, for its second straight victory despite missing five players because of national-team duty or injury.
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Galaxy’s quest continues, D.C. renews New York rivalry
[TV PREVIEW] Los Angeles and FC Dallas meet with neither team in good form, Chicago hosts Chivas USA in a .500 showdown, the Red Bull Road Show stops at RFK, and struggling Columbus hosts the defending champs.
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Depleted Houston faces Rapids in MLS Thursday clash
[TV PREVIEW] Without Dwayne DeRosario and Pat Onstad representing Canada at the Gold Cup, defending champion Houston continues its quest to shed its losing record when it hosts Colorado, which has the services of U.S. international Pablo Mastroeni, who’s serving an international suspension for the red card he received at the 2006 World Cup. Ridge Mahoney previews MLS’s Thursday Night Game …
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USA strikers hot going into Gold Cup opener
[GOLD CUP PREVIEW] The first competitive match of the Bob Bradley Era – the Gold Cup opener against Guatemala Thursday (9 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel) – give him and his team a chance to redeem a goalless draw the teams played March 28. As Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reports, odds look good for the USA if Taylor Twellman and Eddie Johnson bring their MLS hot streaks to tonight’s game …
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Red Bulls’ rally shows they’re for real
On the list of things to do for a team making its move in MLS: Coming from behind on the road to win against a conference foe? Check. The rabid fans at BMO Field can be intimidating, but they were stunned – as were their heroes – when Juan Pablo Angel scored twice in less than three minutes to overturn a 1-0 Toronto FC lead and take Red Bull New York (6-2-2) back atop the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 victory.
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Tim Howard Lands on His Feet
Three years after losing the starting job at Manchester United, U.S. keeper Tim Howard is back in the nets for Premier League rival Everton. There isn't much down time for Tim Howard these days. The demanding pressures of club and country commitments fill up his datebook, so the narrow window between the end of the […]
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Bradley Plunges Into New Job
Before he had the tag of interim national team coach removed in May, U.S. coach Bob Bradley plunged into his latest job as he does everything else: meticulously and relentlessly, even a bit zealously. Bradley’s appointment as men’s national team coach set the stage for the busiest summer for the men’s programs in more than […]
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Hope Returns North of the Border
As MLS savors the rabid reaction to Toronto FC, Canadian Soccer Association officials are planning to use BMO Field and the FIFA U-20 World Cup as catalysts for a revival of their national team programs. Through the window of his condominium, Toronto FC captain Jim Brennan can see the home of Major League Soccer’s newest […]
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Plenty to prove for USA at Gold Cup
Just about everybody connected with the U.S. team as it heads into the Gold Cup tournament this week has something to prove, from the head coach right on down to his son. Bob Bradley is replacing Bruce Arena, the most successful coach in U.S. history. His son, Michael, is one of several candidates vying to replace former captain Claudio Reyna in the middle of midfield. A slew of defenders, from MLS as well as abroad, are in the wake of Eddie Pope, who manned the back line for a decade.
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Red Bull Alert at Toronto’s BMO
[TV PREVIEW] The roughest stretch of the season is underway for the New York Red Bulls, and they started poorly with a 3-2 loss in Kansas City Saturday. Clint Mathis was ejected for elbowing Kerry Zavagnin in the throat and he could get an extra game tacked onto his suspension, which would rule him out of NYRB road tests Wednesday at Toronto and Sunday at D.C. United. Counting the KC game, NYRB plays six of seven on the road. In any case, Mathis won’t be on the field at BMO Field tonight, when the Red Bulls (5-2-2) meet an expansion team that dropped its first four matches but has rebounded with three wins, a loss and a tie in its last five games. TFC left back Kevin Goldthwaite is also suspended.
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Dynamo departures challenge defending champ
Striker Brian Ching may be mired in a slump, yet his departure to join the U.S. team for the Gold Cup couldn’t be more poorly timed for Houston coach Dominic Kinnear. Dwayne DeRosario, who despite his struggles leads the Dynamo with three goals, is with the Canadian team, and Ching hasn’t scored since netting two – his only two goals this season – against Colorado a month ago.
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Money Matters in Salt Lake and Toronto
Real Salt Lake has some money to play with, having gained about $70,000 in cap space by swapping Jeff Cunningham and Alecko Eskandarian, and earning $250,000 for the allocation received upon the retirement of now-coach Jason Kreis.