Author Archives: Soccer America

That all-important FIFA monthly table with the latest world rankings has seen the U.S. climb seven spots to 21st. Mexico is three places lower at 24. The U.S. women are still ranked No. 1.

“We have a multicultural city and many, many people come from countries where they have a really strong soccer culture.” Vancouver’s outgoing mayor Sam Sullivan, in New York to meet MLS Commissioner Don Garber and President Mark Abbott to lobby for an MLS franchise.

There he goes again: “We believe there is a future for clubs playing matches abroad. Audiences abroad are very sophisticated and know a lot about our clubs.” English Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore can’t let go of his reviled ’39th Game’ plan to play EPL fixtures abroad.

Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has criticized soccer’s world governing body FIFA for being all talk and little action when it comes to clamping down on racism. He said that the $26,000 fine imposed on Croatia after its fans hurled racist abuse at England striker Emile Heskey during a World Cup qualifier in […]

UEFA General Secretary David Taylor warned Wednesday that soccer clubs with heavy debts could be excluded from future European competitions. Speaking at the Leaders In Football conference in London, Taylor said there would be plenty of warnings and reprimands, but that the exclusion from European competition of clubs heavily in debt “is absolutely possible.” On […]

Mexican giant Pachuca may choose the Phoenix area for a United Soccer Leagues expansion franchise as early as Wednesday, reports Jose E Garcia. Senior officials from the team are in the Valley for a meeting with the mayors of Tolleson and Mesa, both possible venues for the team, which according to the business plan of […]

Merritt Paulson submitted his bid Tuesday to Major League Soccer to bring a franchise to Oregon. “I feel like I’m creating an opportunity for the city,” he told Ryan Frank and Mark Larabee. “It’s not easy, but I think it makes sense for Portland on a number of levels. For us to be ambitious as […]

“I certainly understood coming in this would be a challenge, and six weeks later I realize it is a challenge,” L.A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena told Mark Zeigler before a weekend that could see his side eliminated from playoff contention. “And it’s every bit a challenge as I anticipated. There is a lot of work […]

“It’s still a game played on a green surface — grass, in this case — with white lines, and the ball’s still round and the same size. So we’ve got to control our emotions and keep them in check.” Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis needs his side to concentrate on the game and forget […]

“The biggest thing for me is to get sharp. I think we’ve gotten over the fatigue of the crazy stretch that we had. We’ve kind of got our legs back, but the one thing we’re still missing is the sharpness that we had early in the season and in SuperLiga.” Steve Nicol on what the […]

“Traveling is physically tiring. Mentally the guys were sharp all the way through, which is really what carried us. Their attitude was the reason why we were successful during this road trip.” Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear praises his team for achieving three ties and a win in four games over 11 days in four […]