David Beckham didn’t receive a heartwarming homecoming, but he did what he does best in helping the Los Angeles Galaxy tie his former team, AC Milan, 2-2, in Sunday’s spirited exhibition at The Home Depot Center. The 34-year-old Englishman, playing in his first home game since returning from a five-month loan with the Italian powerhouse, […]
Author Archives: Soccer America
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Villarreal Starts Preseason with a 27-0 Bang
Villarreal has begun its Spanish league preparations with a 27-0 victory over third division club Navata in a preseason friendly. New arrival Jonathan Pereiro scored seven goals while strikers Joseba Llorente and Marcos Ruben notched four each. Villarreal finished fifth in La Liga last season and will play in the Europa League – the former […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Go home fraud” … “23: Repent” … “Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here After You, Here Despite You.”
— Signs Galaxy fans brought to Sunday’s exhibition against AC Milan to greet David Beckham in his return to the Home Depot Center after his loan spell with the Italian team delayed his return to MLS. (AP)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Results
Following wins by Chicago, D.C. United and Columbus, New England got a must-win victory in its bid to get back in contention in the Eastern Conference. Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Chivas USA tied Kansas City for fifth place, eight points behind the Fire and seven behind United and the Crew and six behind Toronto. For all the game summaries, conference standings and leading scorers …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Timbers break unbeaten streak record
[USL-1] The Portland Timbers set a USL First Division record when they beat FC Miami, 3-0, Sunday to extend their unbeaten streak to 16 games, the longest single-season unbeaten streak ever.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Friendly draws record Sounders crowd at the Q
[SEATTLE SOUNDERS-CHELSEA] The Seattle Sounders FC, who lead MLS in attendance, drew a crowd of 65,289 fans for Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Chelsea — more than twice as large as they’ve drawn for any MLS game this season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Club America wins opener in shootout
[WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE] Club America beat Inter Milan in a shootout after their game finished 1-1 in the opening of the World Football Challenge. The game drew a pro-Club America crowd of 31,026 fans.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Whistle Blown on Ching’s Tweet
Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching was fined $500 for a critical message he sent via Twitter during the Dynamo's 2-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders. This message reached an audience of about 1,800 of his Twitter followers: "Ref in Seattle just cheated the dynamo. What a joke. Not even close. Ref is a cheat." Ching […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Bring on the Noise in South Africa
FIFA rejected calls to ban the noisy vuvuzela, a plastic trumpet, from the 2010 World Cup. The instrument's incessant drone drew protests at last month's Confederations Cup in South Africa, with broadcasters complaining it was drowning out their commentary and some players saying they could not communicate over it. "That would mean one would have […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s High Hopes for World Cup
Archbishop Desmond Tutu believes the 2010 World Cup is a good chance to demonstrate the gains South Africa has made since the end of apartheid. "This thing is as important as Obama getting into the White House," he told reporters Friday at the South African Embassy in the German capital. "For people of color everywhere, […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Controversial Rape Case Polarizes Santa Barbara Community
Eric Frimpong left his native Ghana in 2005 to play soccer for UC Santa Barbara; a year later he became a campus hero while leading the Gauchos to their first-ever national championship. But in 2007, just weeks after being selected by the Kansas City Wizards in the MLS draft, he was accused of raping another […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
This Time, Beckham Gets Booed
David Beckham made his 2009 MLS debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday at Giants Stadium. Two years ago, he made his wildly celebrated debut in the league, but this time there was no carnival atmosphere, no breathless promotion, none of the hysteria of 2007, when Beckham was portrayed as MLS’s savior. Compared to […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Barcelona and Inter to Swap Superstar Strikers
La Liga champion Barcelona has reportedly agreed to pay Inter Milan $56 million for striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a deal that will also send striker Samuel Eto'o and midfielder Aleksandr Hleb to the Serie A champion. According to reports in the Spanish media on Friday the deal was agreed during a dinner meeting between Barcelona […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
The Gold Cup quarterfinals include the USA’s clash with Panama on Saturday and Mexico-Haiti on Sunday. U.S. pro action includes Carolina-Vancouver (USL, Friday), Toronto-Houston (MLS, Saturday) and Sky Blue FC-Chicago (WPS, Sunday).
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
What do we get for a good season?
[OFF THE POST] Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan gave the each of the team’s players a $270,000 watch when they paid him a visit in Abu Dhabi en route to an exhibition tournament in South Africa.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Carmel takes second national title
[DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY] Carmel United SC followed up on its under-15/16 title in last year’s U.S. Soccer Development Academy with the under-17/18 championship, beating D.C. United’s academy team, 1-0, in Thursday’s final at the Home Depot Center.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
New York gets midfielder from sister team
[MLS] The New York Red Bulls, this season’s worst MLS team, with two wins in 20 games, have acquired Austrian midfielder Ernst Obster from sister club Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian first division. The left-footer has won two Austrian Bundesliga titles with Salzburg, in 2007 and 2009, but the 25-year-old played only five league matches in the 2008-09 season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Ref in Seattle just cheated the Dynamo. What a joke. Not even close. Ref is a cheat.”
— What Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching wrote on his Twitter blog to earn a $500 fine from MLS for “public criticism. Ching, who was with the U.S. national team in Philadelphia, made the costly tweet while watching Houston’s 2-1 loss at Seattle on TV. (Houston Chronicle)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Inter-America kicks off World Football Challenge
[TELEVISION WATCH] The inaugural World Football Challenge kicks off Sunday at Stanford Stadium, where Inter Milan meets Chelsea in the opening game of the six-game series that will be available live on the ESPN networks.
Posted inYouth Soccer Reporter, Youth What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We’ve been lucky to kids that have a commitment to always bring a high level, both in training and games. The nature of a competitive athlete is to want to win every time they step on the field. I think what we’ve tried to suggest to the kids is that winning is an important part of development. However, we’ve made it clear to them that we’re not going to go into a win at all costs mentality.”
— Derby County Wolves coach Lars Richters, the 2008-09 U-15/16 Development Academy Coach of the Year.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
U.S. U-17s boys to face Brazilian teams
The U.S. U-17 boys national team is in Brazil to participate in the Copa Macae from July 14-27. Coach Wilmer Cabrera‘s team will play three Brazilian clubs, beginning with Flamengo Saturday in group play. The knockout round will be held July 23-26. For the complete U.S. roster ….
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
U-15/16 Development Academy All-Conference Teams
Arsenal FC led all teams with four selections — Adam Zepeda, Ricardo Hernandez, Alex Arbollo and Ricardo Gonzalez — on the 2008-09 U-15/16 Development Academy Conference Starting XIs. The New York Red Bulls and CASL Chelsea FC Academy have three players apiece on the all-conference teams. For all the all-conference picks and conference coaches of the year …
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
MLS academy stars named to Development Academy Starting XI
Four players on MLS academy teams — Keith Cardona (New York Red Bulls), Bryan de la Fuente (Chivas USA), Riley Wolfe (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Ruben Luna (FC Dallas) — head the 2008-09 U-15/16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Starting XI honorees.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Wolves’ Richters takes U-15/16 honors
Lars Richters, head coach of the Derby County Wolves, was named the U-15/16 Development Academy Coach of the Year. He led the Wolves — part of the Michigan Wolves program — to the top seed in the U-15/16 playoffs and into Friday’s final against Cal Odyssey.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Dallas pair earns top award
A pair of Dallas area players — FC Dallas Juniors forward Ruben Luna and Andromeda midfielder Dillon Powers — earned top honors as the 2008-09 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Players of the Year in voting by Development Academy clubs and U.S. Soccer national staff coaches and technical advisors.