Czech Republic advanced to the final of the Under-20 World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Austria on Wednesday in Edmonton. The Czechs will meet Argentina or Chile in Sunday’s final in Toronto. The South American teams face off Thursday at BMO Field in the other semifinal.
Author Archives: Soccer America
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It is a bit warm. There is no sun in Europe whatsoever. Trust me, I’ve been everywhere in Europe this summer and there is no sun whatsoever and then you suddenly come out here, wake up this morning and it’s 100 degrees. It’s unfortunate it will be a slower game, because … we try to play a quick tempo, but we are only human in these conditions.”
— Glasgow Celtic coach Gordon Strachan starts with the excuses ahead of his team’s game against the MLS All-Stars Thursday in Colorado. (AFP)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
China knocked out of Asian Cup in stunning upset
Uzbekistan shocked Group C favorite China, 3-0, on Wednesday and knocked it out of the Asian Cup. Uzbekistan travels to Jakarta, Indonesia, to face Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Iran will stay in Kuala Lumpur and will face South Korea. Vietnam, the only one of the four co-hosts to advance, plays Iraq in Bangkok. Japan and Australia meet in Hanoi in a replay of their controversial 2006 World Cup match.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. women’s Pan-Am victory marred by Cheney ejection
North Carolina’s Nikki Washington and Casey Nogueira and Jessica McDonald of Phoenix College scored to give the USA a 3-0 win over Argentina to all but assure itself of a berth in the semifinals of the women’s soccer competition at the Pan-American Games. The USA was dealt a blow, however, when star Lauren Cheney was ejected with a straight red card in the 68th minute after retaliating for a hard foul by the Argentines.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. men fall to Bolivia at Pan-Am Games after blowing 2-0 lead
The USA blew a 2-0 halftime lead and lost to Bolivia, 4-2, in its second game in the men’s soccer competition at the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA opens with 1-0 win at Nordic Cup
Santa Clara’s Kiki Bosio came off the bench to score the only goal in the 77th minute and give the U.S. under-21 women’s national team a 1-0 victory over Norway in its opening game at the 2007 Nordic Cup in Narpio, Finland.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Tevez Affair in FIFA’s Hands, Robben Nearly in Real’s
The ubiquitous coverage of the Carlos Tevez and Arjen Robben affairs continues. The latest on Tevez is that West Ham blocked a medical exam scheduled at Manchester United early Wednesday morning, prompting both clubs to take the matter to FIFA. United CEO David Gill is hopeful FIFA will sort things out before the start of […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Beckerman Trade a Positive for RSL
Earlier this week, the Colorado Rapids sent center midfielder Kyle Beckerman to Real Salt Lake in exchange for Mehdi Ballouchy, a move that Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers characterizes as a positive one for struggling RSL. The addition of Beckerman as a holding midfielder could pave the way for Freddy Adu to move back into the […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Becks Watches as Tigres Brushes Galaxy Aside
David Beckham might have experienced a hint of déjà vu in watching his teammates lose from the balcony of a luxury suite Tuesday night — with a few key differences of course: the Galaxy is not Real Madrid (despite a noticeable resemblance in the team’s new image) and this luxury suite was not situated in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
MLS All-Star a Sellout, but Not with Brands
The 2007 MLS All-Star game, staged at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver, Colo., might be a sellout, but it still has a long way to go before it comes close to generating the same kind of hype as say, the NBA All-Star game. Hotels are reporting a small bump in business, and “jersey-clad youths” […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Altidore: U-20s ‘Opened a Lot of Eyes’
The New York Times speaks with a disappointed Josmer Altidore, who this week returned to training with the New York Red Bulls following the junior national team’s quarterfinal exit at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The USA lost in overtime, 2-1, to Austria in a match where Altidore recorded his fourth goal of the tournament. […]
Posted inSoccer Business Insider, Story
McD’s McFest Targets Suburban Soccer
When it comes to targeting a mainstream message to an appropriate, receptive and responsive audience, how can you possibly do any better than the suburban soccer market?
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. defender signs with Bundesliga newcomer
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Heath Pearce, the 22-year-old left back who played one game for the USA at the this summer’s Copa America, has signed with newly promoted German First Division club Hansa Rostock. Pearce, a California product who played college ball at the University of Portland, previously played two years for FC Nordsjaelland in the Danish First Division.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Beasley dazzles with Glasgow Rangers
[AMERICANS ABROAD] DaMarcus Beasley, who joined Glasgow Rangers on a $1.4 million transfer from PSV Eindhoven, made a successful debut for the Scottish club in a 3-0 friendly win over German Fourth Division club Guetersloh. The Scotsman newspaper described the 25-year-old’s performance as dazzling and quoted Rangers assistant coach Ally McCoist as saying: "We were very pleased with DaMarcus Beasley. He is a great signing. He has not had a long time off, just about three weeks because he has played at international level. He is a great signing. He is very, very quick.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Earthquakes to make 2008 return
Northern California, which lost its MLS club to Houston after the 2005 season when the San Jose Earthquakes moved to Texas and became the Dynamo, will welcome back a reincarnation of the Earthquakes for the 2008 season, according to the San Jose Mercury. The Mercury and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that MLS Commissioner Don Garber will make an announcement in Wednesday’s state-of-the-league address in Denver (site of Thursday’s All-Star Game) that Oakland A’s owner and developer Lew Wolff has been awarded an expansion franchise. The new San Jose Earthquakes may play in Bay Area venues outside San Jose while Wolff and his partners negotiate with the city of San Jose to build a new stadium.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“They say money talks. This is obviously untrue, because if money were capable of speech we’d hear it shrieking ‘How much? You must be joking.'”
— Des Kelly writing in the Daily Mail about striker Darren Bent‘s recent $33 million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. (BBC).
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Phoenix international tournament opens before sparse crowd
Four months ago, the USA and Mexico played in front of a sellout crowd at the 63,400-seat University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The big crowd prompted speculation that the Phoenix market was ready for big-time soccer on a regular basis. But even the lure of Libertadores Cup champion Boca Juniors couldn’t help promoters of the six-team Copa PanAmericana that opened Monday night with a crowd of “a few hundred” — a fraction of the 35,000 expected.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Beckham watches as Galaxy slumps to embarrassing loss to Tigres
Just what could David Beckham have been thinking? The Los Angeles Galaxy played its first game with its newest signing on hand to watch, and it stunk up the joint. With Beckham watching from the Galaxy’s executive suite with Galaxy President Alexi Lalas, the MLS club fell to Tigres of Mexico, 3-0, in the opening game of the World Series of Football.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
A’s Owner Wolff Says Quakes Deal Forthcoming
The San Jose Earthquakes may yet be back in business as early as next season, according to Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolff, who’s been planning to build a home stadium that would enable him to resurrect the two-time MLS champ. “We’re not 1,000 percent there and we don’t want to preempt any announcement from Major […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Report: Beckham Might Miss Chelsea, Capello Could Cross over
It’s looking quite possible that the L.A. Galaxy’s new signing David Beckham will not be making his debut against Chelsea at the Home Depot on Saturday due to an injury sustained at the end of last season while playing for Real Madrid and England. Beckham did not train with the MLS team on Monday, and […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Transfer Roundup
Sir Alex Ferguson is confident that Carlos Tevez will sign for the Red Devils soon despite a series of legal problems. The Argentina star is set to fly into Manchester Tuesday for a medical test. However, it looks like United’s current Argentine star, Gabriel Heinze, is on his way out — to either Liverpool or […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Celtic and Spurs Reportedly Might Start Freddy Bidding War
British clubs Celtic and Tottenham could start a bidding war for Real Salt Lake midfielder Freddy Adu, according to Scottish paper The People. Scottish champion Celtic had hoped to sign the U.S. U-20 national team star as early as this week for a reported $2 million, but now Tottenham manager Martin Jol is understood to […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Copa Final a Victory for Pragmatism
Tim Vickery of BBC Sport calls Brazil’s 3-0 win over Argentina in the Copa America final a resounding triumph for the pragmatists over the romantics from Argentina. “Pragmatist” is a polite way of describing an approach to the game that has seen Brazil’s press castigate Coach Dunga for a style of play many have called […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“The players were all really pleasant, thankfully. One of them came up to me — I can’t remember who it was now — and said: ‘Nice to meet you. What’s your name?’ That really broke the ice.”
— David Beckham on his first practice with the Los Angeles Galaxy. (Reuters)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Lightning strikes twice on the road
[W-LEAGUE RESULTS] The Minnesota Lightning remained unbeaten with road wins over the Chicago Gaels (2-1) and West Michigan Firewomen (1-0) over the weekend. Kelsey Hans had the winning goal in the win over West Michigan, her sixth goal in six games. For complete PDL results and goalscorers …