Author Archives: Soccer America

By Will Kuhns In three days, Coach Bruce Arena will name the 23 players who will represent the United States at the 2002 World Cup. The announcement will occur during the 6 p.m. ET edition of ESPN’s SportsCenter on Monday. It culminates the six-month stretch, since the team clinched qualification, that Arena used to make […]

BY RIDGE MAHONEY, Senior Editor According to sources, here’s the bulk of the MLS contingent on the 23-man World Cup 2002 squad, to be announced by U.S. coach Bruce Arena Monday: Jeff Agoos, Landon Donovan (San Jose); Eddie Pope (D.C. United); Cobi Jones (Los Angeles); Chris Armas, DaMarcus Beasley, Josh Wolff (Chicago); Clint Mathis (MetroStars); […]

Two the USA’s Group D World Cup opponents were in action yesterday. Portugal tied Brazil, 1-1, in Lisbon in a performance that eases concerns raised after its 4-1 loss to Finland in March. Poland experienced no such rebound. It lost its second straight game at home, 2-1, to non-qualifier Romania on the heels of its […]

BY RIDGE MAHONEY, senior editor Fighting spirit, tenacity, and whether a player’s astrological chart included strong influences of the water signs were the only characteristics that could be gleaned from what passes for “a lovely night of football” in Dublin. Skill, pace, first touch, positioning — all were drowned, literally, by a marshy field on […]

In a clash of champions from two sides of the border, Mexico+s Pachuca downed MLS+s San Jose Earthquakes, 3-0, in their first-leg, CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal clash April 17 in Pachuca. San Jose hosts the return leg, in which it needs a four-goal win, April 24. Pachuca scored on a 18-yard free kick by Marco […]

2001 MLS champion San Jose faces Mexican League defending champ Pachuca tonight in a first-leg CONCACAF Championships Cup quarterfinal clash in Mexico. The Quakes will be without Landon Donovan and Jeff Agoos, who are in Dublin for the U.S. friendly. San Jose advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 aggregate win over Honduras’ Olimpia. Pachuca […]

The USA, looking for its first win on European soil under Coach Bruce Arena, fell, 2-1, to Ireland in a downpour in Dublin April 27. The Americans had lost in Italy (1-0) and in Germany (4-2) earlier this year, and in Russia (2-0) in April 2000. The loss to Ireland comes five days before Arena […]

Shannon MacMillan, who has posted Akers-like numbers to start off 2002, may be on the verge of something special. Shannon MacMillan has had the hot foot before, so to speak, but never like this. Everything she touches, or nearly everything, is finding net. Don’t ask her to explain it. “I don’t know – maybe it’s […]

Coach Bruce Arena, goalkeeper Brad Friedel and forward Brian McBride met the press after the USA+s 2-1 loss to Ireland in Dublin April 17. U.S coach BRUCE ARENA: -I am disappointed that we didn’t walk away with a point tonight, because we were in a position to manage the game in the last 10 minutes […]

PORTUGAL WARMUP RESULTS Feb. 13 in Barcelona Spain 1 Portugal 1. Goals: Morientes 41; Jorge Costa 28. Portugal — Ricardo (Quim, 46), Frechault, Jorge Costa (Bento, 90), Fernando Couto, Rui Jorge (Dimas, 46), Vidigal, Viana (Andrade, 62), Figo (Capucho, 80), Conceicao (Simao, 46), Joao Pinto (Barbosa, 46), Pauleta (Nuno Gomes, 46). March 27 in Oporto […]

POLAND WARMUP RESULTS Feb. 10 in Limassol Poland 2 Faeroe Islands 1. Goals: Zurawski 12, pen. 43; R. Jakobsen 26. Poland — Wierzchowski (Kowalewski, 77), Ciesielski (Bosacki, 46), Glowacki, Zielinski, Stolarczyk (Kielbowicz, 65), Kaczorowski (Sibik, 46), Lewandowski (Murawski, 46), Piekarski (Drumlak, 46), Kosowski, Moskala (Rasiak, 46), Zurawski. Feb. 13 in Limassol Poland 4 Northern Ireland […]

Matt Cardillo asks: I’m looking for the names of the 11 players who started for the USA vs. Germany in their opening match of France ’98. I do know from reading SA back in 1998 that SA usually has player ratings with the lineups. Executive Editor Mike Woitalla: Here’s the report card we ran in […]

Fans might debate his talents, but they can’t argue his record. Richie Williams is the most decorated American player in modern history with 13 national and international titles. Everybody has an opinion about Richie Williams. Among fans of the U.S. national team and MLS teams who play against him, those opinions are rarely positive. Among […]

Carlos Ruiz, the 22-year-old Guatemalan who joined the Los Angeles Galaxy this season, has scored all five of his team’s goals in its first three games. On Wednesday, he discussed his stellar start. Ruiz’s opening Comments: “We have played three games as the home team where it is our priority to win those games. Unfortunately, […]

Only four players from the Ireland team that beat Denmark, 3-0, last month will start against the United States tomorrow at Lansdowne Road: Leeds United’s Ian Harte and Robbie Keane, Charlton midfielder Mark Kinsella and Blackburn striker Damian Duff. Tomorrow’s Ireland starting lineup: Shay Given, Gary Kelly, Gary Breen, Andy O’Brien, Ian Harte, Rory Delap, […]

Eric Wynalda, the U.S. national team’s all-time leading scorer and a 6-year MLS veteran before signing with the A-League’s Charleston Battery, is doubtful for the season. Wynalda, 32, suffered a probable ACL tear and will have surgery if tests confirm the injury’s severity. He hurt his right knee during an exhibition match against MLS’s New […]

Today, the USA plays its final away match before this summer’s World Cup and before Coach Bruce Arena will announce his 23-man World Cup roster on Monday. It faces fellow World Cup qualifier Ireland in Dublin (ESPN2, 2:30 pm ET/11:30 am PT live; Telemundo, Thursday 11:30 pm ET/11:30 PT). HEAD TO HEAD: Neither team has […]

Sports’ great builders have all been men of the game. The pioneers of baseball and football were first and foremost sportsmen. Baseball had the Dodgers’ Walter O’Malley and Giants’ Horace Stoneham, who led the move to California in the late ’50s. When you think of pro football, you think of coaches like Chicago’s George Halas […]

By RIDGE MAHONEY BEST GOAL: There aren’t a lot of choices, as only three games were played and seven goals scored. Top of the charts is the Metros’ second goal against Colorado, which was tucked away by Brad Davis with a classy finish. Rodrigo Faria controlled a long kick from keeper Tim Howard and pushed […]

BY SCOTT FRENCH, Senior Editor MVP! MVP! Tiffeny Milbrett, the WUSA’s MVP and scoring champion in the inaugural season, scored twice from Linda Ormen feeds as New York romped past host Washington, 4-1, on Saturday. The striker, who scored 16 goals with three assists in 2001, finished breakaways in the 33rd and 54th minutes as […]

As the European seasons wind down, games take on magnified importance. In France, David Regis and Greg Vanney both helped their clubs to crucial victories in the fight against relegation with two games left. In England, Claudio Reyna was red-carded late in Sunderland’s loss to Liverpool which left Reyna’s club two points above the drop […]

The incredible start to Carlos Ruiz+s MLS career continues: The Guatemalan has now scored every one of the Los Angeles Galaxy+s first five goals. After scoring the gamewinners in the Galaxy+s first two games of the year, Ruiz headed its equalizer against Dallas in Saturday+s 1-1 tie. Jason Kreis scored the Burn+s goal on a […]

A spectacular 88th-minute volley by Brandi Chastain, making her first appearance in the WUSA as a forward, completed the San Jose CyberRays’ rally for a 2-1 victory over visiting Boston as they began defense of their championship. WUSA President Lynn Morgan presented championship rings to the CyberRays before the nationally televised match, which drew 6,051 […]

Rough roads in Wild West Three of the last four MLS Cup finalists square off with revamped squads in Colorado and Dallas. Management questions have been answered in San Jose, which finished last in attendance despite beating the Galaxy in MLS Cup 2001. Kansas City, the 2000 champ, seeks redemption. The Burn lives on despite […]

Greyhounds are off and running The incumbent is defunct. The traditional power has renewed inspiration. Last year’s favorite is healthy again and reinforced. The league’s all-time winningest team has joined the fray. And yet, the most feared team is the one with the worst record in MLS history. Cataclysmic changes during the offseason have forged […]