Author Archives: Soccer America

ESPN Soccernet’s Ives Galarcep sizes up the storylines for Thursday night’s prime-time match-up between the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC. For starters, several former Red Bulls have moved to the Canadian club: there’s former New York coach Mo Johnston, who’s now in charge of building TFC; there’s former MLS MVP Amado Guevara, who […]

The 2008 MLS season is already throwing up several surprises. Among them: two-time defending champ Houston’s winless opening start, the fall from grace of Chivas USA keeper Brad Guzan and strikers Luciano Emilio (D.C. United) and Brian Ching (Houston), and finally, Toronto’s three-game winning streak after starting the season with two losses. However, Goal.com’s Pat […]

In his weekly column for Goal.com, Colorado Rapids midfielder Kelly Gray weighs in on the issue of changes that MLS needs to make in order to grow soccer in America. In his opinion, it’s simple: it’s all about money. “I understand why the league was originally set up as a single entity, and think that […]

With 38 goals in all competitions, and having scored most of them as an outside winger, Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is the odds-on favorite to win the Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) for 2008. His stiffest competition will be Bayern Munich’s Luca Toni, who is having an equally stunning campaign, having found the net 36 times […]

The Newark Star Ledger’s Frank Giase says the untold story of the New York Red Bulls’ 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes was Mike Magee’s first goal for 21 months. “It feels longer, it feels a lot longer,” the long-time New York striker said after scoring the game-winning goal from the penalty spot on […]

Steve Davis lists his usual MLS notes from the previous weekend, doling out the compulsory kudos for Landon Donovan’s three-goal salvo versus Chivas USA, while also chiming in on the depreciation in form of Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Donovan, with eight goals in six games, looks to be on the way to at least a […]

Sven Goran Eriksson is resigned to losing his job as manager of Manchester City, according to his agent, who claims that club owner Thaksin Shinawatra has all but made up his mind that Eriksson should be replaced after just one season in charge. Given that he has two years remaining on a contract worth $5 […]

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo on Monday was named the Professional Footballer’s Association Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after another amazing campaign that has seen him score 28 goals in 29 league games for the Red Devils. Ronaldo beat the likes of Liverpool’s Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard and Arsenal’s Cesc […]

An ugly scene, dubbed the “Battle of the Bridge,” erupted at Stamford Bridge on Saturday following Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Manchester United. Patrice Evra, Gary Neville and Park Ji-Sung were warming down after the match, when the Stamford Bridge staff approached and asked them to move in a manner that the United players claim incited […]

Enough talk about Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, Goal.com’s Kyle McCarthy says “the past, present and future of American offensive creativity” were on display during the Los Angeles derby between the Galaxy and Chivas USA. They are Landon Donovan and Sacha Kljestan, easily the best players on the field for their respective teams during the […]

The New York Times’ George Vecsey calls Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls “the distinctive sports franchise in town.” And that’s not a good thing, not when the “distinction” is being trophy-less from a region not known “to coddle second-raters.” It may be early days in the 2008 MLS season, but Vescey says Sunday’s […]

In an interview with the London Times, L.A. Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit says he enjoys life in L.A. “The quality of life has nothing to do with all the stars living here or the fancy boutiques and restaurants. It’s something more simple: the nice weather, people not p*****-off all the time because it is raining. […]