Jeff Cunningham, who’s one goal shy of his 100th career MLS goal, could make his debut for FC Dallas, which he joined last week from Toronto, against Columbus, where he played in 1998-2004. … D.C. United aims to recover from its 4-1 loss to New York when it travels to Chicago. … West leader Houston hosts second-place Salt Lake. … Colorado looks for its second win in 10 games when it hosts Kansas City. … The league’s worst team San Jose (18 points) hosts its top club, New England (33 points). … New York meets Toronto FC on Sunday. For all of this week’s MLS action on TV and the standings and leading scorers. …
Author Archives: Soccer America
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We play soccer like the Brazilians play Ping-Pong.”
— Li Weifeng, captain of China’s men’s national soccer team, which exited in the first round of the Olympic tournament with two losses and a tie. (New York Times)
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
The 2008-09 English Premier League and German Bundesliga kick off this weekend. There are six MLS clashes and Olympic soccer quarterfinals. For detailed information on Olympic soccer viewing, go to www.nbcolympics.com, where games are also broadcast online. In the MLS Thursday night game, Chivas USA hosts Los Angeles. The English Premier League season kicks off this weekend.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Europe’s Top Five Leagues 42.4 Per Cent Foreign
The news that Europe’s top leagues feature many foreign players is hardly going to stop the front page presses, but no doubt FIFA President Sepp Blatter will find the statistics useful in his ongoing crusade to try and contravene European Union employment laws. A study published Thursday by the Professional Football Players Observatory states that […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Revived New York Can Challenge For MLS Cup
How we sniggered last year when former RB New York Managing Director Marc de Grandpre said upon dismissing coach Bruce Arena that the expectation at owner Red Bull's HQ was nothing less than the MLS Cup. Now, says Pat Walsh, it may not be beyond the team to achieve that goal as early as this […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Salt Lake Hoping For Max Out Of Mathis
Clint Mathis is to try a second spell at Real Salt Lake, paperwork pending, the team's GM Garth Lagerwey has confirmed. Just as England coach Fabio Capello hopes that marriage will settle Wayne Rooney down, Lagerwey reckons that the birth of Mathis' first child on Monday will help steady the wayward career of the forward […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
S.A.’s World Cup Stadiums To Cost $257 Million More
The South African government announced Wednesday that the cost of staging the World Cup will rise by a further 2 billion rand ($258 million). The overall projected costs will rise from 9.6 billion rand (just below $1.25 billion) to 11.6 billion (around $1.5 billion). Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi said the figure covered “all infrastructure” […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Beckham On The Bus
L.A. Galaxy right-sided midfielder David Beckham is to appear on a London double-decker bus at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Steve McClaren’s Comedy Foreign Accent
Watch the video footage of a Dutch TV interview with new FC Twente manager Steve McClaren, the man with the personality of a wet winter Sunday in Detroit. Strangely, McClaren has adopted the accent of a foreigner speaking English. No Steve, this doesn’t mean you are now speaking Dutch.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
League Cup Draw, Round Two
Here’s the draw for round two of the English League Cup, the competition that no one wants to admit is 20 years past its sell-by date.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Colorado lands Cory Gibbs
[MLS] Struggling Colorado has signed defender Cory Gibbs, 28, a Florida product who started his pro career at age 21 in Germany, where he played for FC St. Pauli in the first, second and third divisions. Gibbs played one season in MLS, for FC Dallas in 2004, before returning to Europe, but has spent two years battling injury.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Giants cruise in qualifying round
[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Juventus, Barcelona and Arsenal look likely to reach the Champions League group stage after convincing first-leg wins in the third qualifying round. Juventus crushed Artmedia Bratislava, 4-0. Barcelona cruised past Wisla Krakow by the same score. Arsenal downed Dutch squad Twente Enschede, 2-0. American defender Oguchi Onyewu did not see action in Standard Liege’s scoreless with Liverpool.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS TV Schedule
The Los Angeles Galaxy’s first game under interim coach Cobi Jones is the Southern California derby against Chivas USA on Thursday night. It’s the third and final meeting of the season between the teams that share the Home Depot Center. The Galaxy defeated Chivas USA 5-2 and the teams tied the second meeting 1-1 in their earlier 2008 clashes. For all of this week’s MLS action on TV and the standings and leading scorers. …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“With everything that has gone on, there will be distractions. I’ve got to help those guys think about only one thing, and that’s about their play on the field. When you look at it, there have been changes from the top down through the coaching staff as well, but when it comes down to it, the players are the same.”
— Cobi Jones, interim head coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy, which on Thursday faces Chivas USA (ESPN2, 11 pm ET) in its first game since the departure of Coach Ruud Gullit and general manager Alexi Lalas. (Los Angeles Daily News)
Posted inSpecial Edition, Story
Olympic Soccer TV Schedule
Soccer action resumes on Friday when the U.S. women face Canada in the quarterfinals. Complete soccer coverage is available on the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and online at nbcolympics.com. Check with your television provider for the availability of the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.
Posted inSpecial Edition, Story
Postgame from Beijing
[REACTION] Coach Peter Nowak and U.S. players discuss the disappointing loss against Nigeria, the red card to Michael Orozco that forced them to play a man down for 86 minutes, and on why they’re proud of their effort at the Games.
Posted inSpecial Edition, Story
Men’s Soccer Scoreboard
All Asian teams including host, and both Concacaf teams have been eliminated. The quarterfinal matchups are: Nigeria-Ivory Coast; Italy-Belgium; Argentina-Netherlands; and Brazil-Cameroon. For all the results and goal scorers …
Posted inSpecial Edition, Story
What They’re Saying
“Those guys are my boys. They played so hard tonight and you can’t even express your feelings in the right way right now. For me, they won a gold medal in this game tonight. Of course, in the soccer world we still have to move on. There are a lot of things we can improve at the international level, but we’re going in the right direction. For those boys to play like that, it was quite a journey. The last five minutes with 50,000 people chanting ‘U-S-A’ was quite a feeling. … I’ll cherish this moment forever.”
— U.S. men’s coach Peter Nowak after his team was eliminated from the Olympic tournament with a 2-1 loss to Nigeria.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Rapids Pick Up Cory Gibbs
U.S. defender Cory Gibbs joined the Colorado Rapids Tuesday after the L.A. Galaxy passed up its chance to sign the player.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Keller To Join Sounders
In a long anticipated move, U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller, 38, is to join MLS expansion franchise the Seattle Sounders.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
EPL Captains Back FA’s ‘Respect’ Campaign
Which is easy to do off-field, perhaps less so in the middle of an intense professional game. We’ll see.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
‘Football Punk’ Magazine Aims For Slice Of U.K. Market
As English soccer becomes increasingly focused on money, weddings and celebrity wives, and less on the actual game, a new magazine aims to cash in on the decline of quality soccer journalism and lower the tone of the medium even further. ‘Football Punk magazine, owned by former Liverpool defender Phil Babb, is set to become […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Stoke Boss Gets Ready For EPL Reality
Last season Derby County was the EPL’s relegation favorite before a ball had been kicked. This season, newcomers Hull City and Stoke City are in the same position ahead of Saturday’s kick-off. Stoke’s manager Tony Pulis is realistic about the task ahead, and has spent the summer coping with the new realities of life in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Diving Dusty Takes the Plaudits For Charleston
Meanwhile further south, United Soccer League Division One’s Charleston Battery reached its first ever Open Cup final by beating the Seattle Sounder on penalty kicks. The Battery hero was Dusty Hudock, who “literally saved the Battery’s chance at a national championship,” writes Andrew Miller. Hudock, who has been with the Battery 10 years, made two […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
United Reaps Reward Of Taking Open Cup Seriously
It's rarely been the case in recent years, but D.C. United has started taking the U.S. Open Cup seriously. It took the revolutionary step of fielding a first-choice lineup against New England Tuesday and reached the final with a 3-1 win. The Revs, by contrast, rested several players, with elimination the predictable consequence. "We have […]