Author Archives: Soccer America

English soccer’s two longest serving and most successful managers expressed their respect for Jose Mourinho on Friday, saying they would miss the rivalry that had grown between them and the former Chelsea coach. “It’s a disappointment for the game,” said Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson, adding that he enjoyed the competition and the “fresh” […]

Soccer on TV., Story

Soccer on TV

The USA’s Women’s World Cup quest continues with a quarterfinal clash against England early Saturday morning. There’s six MLS clashes. European club action available on U.S. TV includes Manchester United’s showdown with Chelsea. La Liga powers Barcelona and Real Madrid play on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Fulham’s American attacker Clint Dempsey aims to extend his scoring streak on Saturday.

NCAA Division I Women’s Unbeaten Teams

[MAKING A LIST] NCAA Division I women’s play moves into its fourth week, and 19 teams remain unbeaten, ranging from Marquette and South Carolina at 7-0-0 to Houston at 3-0-1.

Big East upstarts are primed for showdowns

[FOCUS] The Big East has three men’s teams ranked among the top seven teams in the Soccer America rankings — No. 2 Connecticut, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 7 West Virginia — and they will all be tested this weekend. As the Big East moves into full swing, four upstarts, all unranked nationally in the Soccer America Preseason Top 25, are off to great starts. South Florida (5-0-0) has broken into the Soccer America Top 25 at No. 23, while DePaul (4-0-0), Villanova (5-1-0) and Syracuse (3-0-3) could crack the Top 25 with big weekends.

Soccer America Top 25 Men’s Results & Schedules

Four ACC matches involving Soccer America Top 25 teams highlight the action this weekend. No. 1 Wake Forest puts its perfect record in the line Friday night when it faces Clemson. On Saturday, No. 4 Virginia travels to N.C. State, No. 13 Boston College goes on the road to play North Carolina, and No. 17 Duke hosts No. 18 Maryland. For complete Top 25 results and schedules …

SMU recovers to put away Centenary

[THURSDAY ACTION] Junior Richard Oliva scored a pair of goals for No. 11 SMU in a 5-1 win over visiting Centenary. Two first-half goals from captain Peter Lowry led No. 14 Santa Clara to a 2-0 win over San Jose State. A second-half goal by junior Roger Espinoza provided all the scoring 23th-ranked Ohio State needed to win, 1-0, at Bowling Green. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Horwath extended his personal shutout streak to five games, but No. 25 Wisconsin had to settle for a 0-0 draw at UW-Green Bay.

Soccer America Top 25 Women’s Results & Schedules

No. 1 Santa Clara takes to the road to face Arizona State and Arizona. In the big Top 25 match of the weekend, No. 19 Penn State heads to No. 14 Notre Dame for a Sunday showdown at 12:30 p.m. live on ESPNU. For complete Top 25 results and schedules …

UEFA Cup Results

German giant Bayern Munich struggled to a 1-0 win over Portuguese club Belenenses at home in the first leg of theeir UEFA Cup first-round series. Italy striker Luca Toni scored the only goal for Bayern in a match watched by a crowd of 64,000 at the Allianz Arena.

Bradley scores twice in UEFA Cup win

Michael Bradley scored twice to lead Dutch club Heerenveen to a 5-3 victory over Swedish club Helsingborg in the first leg of their UEFA Cup first-round series. Bradley scored in the 20th and 60th minutes in the home win. For updates on all the Americans on UEFA Cup entrants …

Soccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

“They’re saying that the ball boy was annoying him from the start.”

— Jose Quispe, spokesman for Peruvian club Cienciano, whose goalkeeper Juan Flores was red-carded and arrested for kicking a ball boy. Flores was apparently upset after the boy tossed the ball on the field instead of handing it to him. (Reuters)

U.S. men to face South Africa in Johannesburg

The U.S. national team will play the third game on African soil in its 101-year history when it faces 2010 World Cup host South Africa Nov. 17 in Johannesburg in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup.

Women’s World Cup Results

Cheryl Salisbury’s goal two minutes into stoppage time gave Australia a 2-2 tie with Canada and sent the Socceroos into the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup and eliminated the Canadians, fourth at the 2003 finals in the United States. Brazil was the only team to win all three games, completing its sweep in Group D with a 1-0 win over Denmark.

OFF THE POST: Player caught in double granny-death lie

So he could leave the Irish national team camp and skip a Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic, Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland claimed his maternal grandmother, who had helped raise him from age 5, had died. The Irish federation put him on a private plane to return home. When the grandmother announced that reports of her death were greatly exaggerated, the 21-year-old said it had been his paternal grandmother who had died. And if he had known it was that grandma, he wouldn’t have skipped the game. Well, that grandmother was also able to prove her existence – and she wasn’t too pleased to learn her demise wouldn’t warrant a national team absence.

USL First Division All-League Teams

Three players hit significant milestones in USL First Division all-league honors with Montreal’s Gabriel Gervais being selected for a sixth time. Portland’s Andrew Gregor and Rochester’s Johnny Menyongar were named all-league for the fourth time in their career. Montreal and Portland led all teams with four selections each on the two all-league teams. For the first- and second-team selections …

Story, Youth Soccer Insider

The Conflicting Models

Competitive pressures are encouraging elite clubs to professionalize training at younger and younger ages. But is this development good for youth soccer as a whole, or even the kids on the select team?

WWC: Neutralizing Smith the Key to U.S. Victory

ESPN’s Graham Hays says the key to victory for the U.S. women’s national team against England on Saturday is containing Kelly Smith, one of the world’s best strikers. Both Argentina and Japan failed in that regard as Smith grabbed a pair of goals in each game. However, the U.S. could take a page from Germany’s […]

Inter Stunned in CL Opener

One of the more shocking results of the Champions League first round was the loss that Italian champion Inter Milan suffered at the hands of Turkish club Fenerbahce. More shocking, perhaps, than the 1-0 result was the fact that Inter’s usually dangerous attack force of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Suazo and Dejan Stankovic remained quiet for […]

Deschamps to Chelsea; Mourinho to Portugal?

The Chelsea tenure of Jose Mourinho, the “Special One” as he once famously referred to himself, is now over. Let the speculation begin as to who will succeed him. According to Rivals DM, former Chelsea player Didier Deschamps heads the list of possible replacements. Deschamps, who coached Juventus to the Serie B title last season, […]

Heady Times for Arsenal

“These are heady days for Arsenal,” says the Guardian’s David Hytner. Indeed, undefeated at the top of the Premier League, playing some of the most stylish soccer in Europe to a consistently sold-out Emirates Stadium, with a sound financial standing and billionaire-suitors lining up to get a piece, things could not be going much better […]

Penn State women catch fire against Bucknell

[WEDNESDAY ACTION] No. 19 Penn State exploded for five second-half goals to beat Bucknell, 5-1, on the road in a battle of regional women’s rivals. Senior Aubrey Aden-Buie scored two goals. Transfer Melissa Hayes assisted on three goals, and sophomore Katie Schoepfer got the gamewinner, scoring in her third straight game. Ashley Myers and Jessie Davis also scored.

Portland is undeterred by injuries and Women’s World Cup call-ups

[FOCUS] Women’s World Cup call-ups and injuries have depleted Portland, but the No. 3 Pilots have run off three straight shutout victories since losing senior Rachael Rapinoe with an ACL tear 11 days ago in their 1-0 defeat to Purdue.

BYU women remain unbeaten and unscored upon

[STREAK] BYU’s shutout string was extended to 662 minutes when the No. 16 Cougars beat Utah rival Weber State, 2-0, on Wednesday night in Ogden. BYU (6-0-1) is the only Division I women’s team in the nation not to have allowed a goal all season.

Zimmeck ranks among Tribe leaders

[PROFILE] Claire Zimmeck is following in a long tradition of William & Mary women’s greats. Coming off sensational freshman and sophomore seasons, she has been on a tear in the first month of her junior campaign. Zimmeck’s hot streak continued when she scored the winning goal in No. 24 William and Mary’s 2-0 victory over Albany on Wednesday evening — the fourth straight game she has scored the winning goal.

Creighton’s Dacy sidelined for rest of season

[INJURY] Creighton star Byron Dacy‘s comeback bid was short-lived. The junior forward will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn left ACL he suffered during the Bluejays’ exhibition match against Ohio State on Aug. 18. He came back to play two minutes against UCLA on Sept. 8 and played 19 minutes off the bench last Saturday against Loyola Marymount, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime for Creighton, ranked No. 8 in the country.

Struggling Duke and Maryland earn tough wins