Author Archives: Soccer America

Twenty years later and with "hundreds of thousands of soccer fans passing through Liverpool's Anfield stadium every season, the memories remain" of the 96 men, women and children who were crushed to death in "the country's worst sports disaster," on April 15, 1989, a "day that irrevocably changed English soccer." "Time has gone by, but […]

Growing up amid the flying bullets and soaring rockets of Liberia's civil war, "which claimed some 200,000 lives between Christmas Eve of 1989 and 1996," somehow Vancouver Whitecaps forward Ansu Toure's "entire immediate family — nine kids in total – survived," for which they feel "no better than the dead, just truly blessed." According to […]

Among a Chicago Fire team that features players from 10 different nations, ESPN Soccernet’s Maria Burna Ortiz writes of a trio of Chicago Fire internationals – Patrick Nyarko of Ghana, Yugslavian-born Baggio Husidic and Bakary Soumare of Mali – that had “chance meetings turn into life-altering events” and while “everyone has worked and battled to […]

"It is a shame because he used to be a nice guy before he went to Stuttgart, but now he spends all his time trying to provoke people. He just keeps getting on my nerves now. He is totally overrated and out of touch. He should remind himself of the own goal he scored against […]

"We have to walk first. We have to take the first step in order to take the second. First is to qualify for the World Cup and then from there we'll re-establish ourselves and we'll reveal our next step. For now, it is an absolute priority to put our bodies and souls into this qualification […]

"My wife got a funny telemarketing call when we were home last summer, some guy trying to get us to go to a Las Vegas hotel to see the Eiffel Tower and the canals of Venice. Well, we've been there and done that!" Seattle keeper Kasey Keller, speaking of his family's many travels during his […]

At age 26, standing tall at 6-foot-4 and with a wealth of international experience to his credit, from the youth level to the full national team, it’s no secret that U.S. international Oguchi Onyewu is currently a hot commodity overseas. But after speculation that the Belgium-based defender would be shipped off to any number of […]

In these times, “the audacity of hope” is a term that you most likely connect with a man named Obama, but MLSnet.com’s Steve Davis makes a case that it’s that same dare-to-dream confidence that helps soccer players who possess it “more likely to come shining through” and that more often that not, “bold, aggressive action […]

For all those soccer fans who find themselves out of work in the N.Y./N.J. area, there is new networking niche: a weekly meeting of "recession soccer" that brings together a group of un- and underemployed to "ponder ball and goal, past and future and the vagaries of the job market all while getting in a […]

When early 2009 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year favorite Kasey Keller earned a very rare red card in the 29th minute of Seattle's match vs. the Kansas City Wizards, and with backup keeper Chris Eylander out with an injury, it was left to "extreme hardship" (yes, that's an official league term) call-up Ben Dragavon to […]

In the name of MLS success, Toronto FC coach John Carver has been forced to put aside his die-hard fandom of Newcastle United and place his faith "into the hands of a man who once played for Sunderland, the Toon Army's hated Northeast rivals," writes Paul Attfield. But EPL allegiances aside, it's Carl Robinson that […]

Not often is the occasion that rookie talent translates into instant impact in MLS, but only three weeks into the '09 season that optimistic scenario has already "been borne out on the field," as ESPN Soccernet's Ives Galarcep points out that "a total of 15 MLS draft picks have already earned starts for their teams, […]

"Jose was a great coach, (and) he is a great guy, but I think his time at Chelsea Football Club has passed." Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, addressing the team's high profile coaching vacancy after Guus Hiddink departs this summer and all but ruling out a possible Mourinho homecoming. Buck did not comment on recent rumors […]

"You look at someone like Ryan Giggs and he has to be the prime example of what we're after in life. Someone that has never changed, someone who at every training session does his best and throughout his 20-year career has excelled in different levels all the time. He just keeps going and going and […]

"We were one of the lucky families. Our children came home to us that night and obviously we are eternally grateful for that, but that doesn't mean to say we don't have a great deal of sympathy for those who were not as fortunate as us. I always feel for anyone who was there and […]

Of all four Champions League quarterfinal series, the one that is by far the most out of reach is that of Bayern and Barcelona, but you wouldn't know it from the cautious comments and approach of Barca coach Pep Guardiola, who sat key players Xavi, Samuel Eto'o and captain Carlos Puyol on Saturday in order […]