Category: Soccer America Daily

Jorge Barcellos, who coached Brazil to second place at the 2007 Women’s World Cup and the silver medal in the 2008 Olympic women’s soccer competition, is headed to Women’s Professional Soccer, where he will serve as the St. Louis head coach. Dallas and Los Angeles have yet to hire coaches with only weeks to go before the first player selections take place for the WPS’s 2009 launch.

[EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES] Soccer America provides the latest on employment opportunities for soccer-related positions. They include college coaching opportunities, as well as opportunities in pro soccer, youth soccer, the soccer industry and television.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Eddie Johnson debuted for Cardiff City in its 2-1 win over MK Dons in the English League Cup.

Both MLS teams will have to make up deficits in the home legs of their CONCACAF Champions’ League preliminary series after losing on the road Tuesday night. New England fell, 2-1, to Joe Public FC in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, and Chivas USA lost, 2-0, in Panama to Tauro FC. The second legs will be played next Tuesday at Gillette Stadium and Home Depot Center, respectively.

[OFF THE POST/VIDEO] Eduardo Martini of Brazilian club Avaí scored with a punt from his own penalty area – it took a bounce before beating his Parana counterpart – in his team’s 3-1 win.

[MLS] The Chicago Fire has named as its new president Dave Greeley, who told the Chicago Tribune that his soccer knowledge is “limited.”

[GERMANY] Hoffenheim, a village with a population of 3,272, is the surprise leader of Germany’s Bundesliga after two days, and its star is a former St. Louis prep star.

[MLS] Sainey Nyassi‘s quick pace has added a new dimension the New England Revolution’s attack. The 19-year-old Gambian midfielder has made 17 appearances (15 starts) for the Revs in 2008. Get to know Nyassi in this profile by Soccer America’s Bryan Alvarez that covers on- and off-field experiences.

[OLYMPICS] Men’s and women’s soccer games at the 2008 Olympic Games drew a total attendance of 2.14 million, making soccer the biggest draw at the Games and setting a record for soccer attendance at the Olympics. USA-hosted Olympics in 1984 and 1996 held previous soccer attendance records. For Olympic soccer attendance history. …

[AMERICANS IN MEXICO] Defender Edgar Castillo has played the full 90 in all of Santos’ five Apertura 2008 games this season, including Sunday’s 5-3 win over Chivas Guadalajara.

[ENGLAND] Some questioned whether the diminutive Brazilian-born Portugal international Deco had the makeup to play in the English Premier League, but he has been key to Chelsea’s early success in the English Premier League and will later seek a third UEFA Champion League title with a third team.

An own goal by former MLS SuperDraft No. 1 pick Steve Shak gave the Cleveland City Stars the early lead and they went on to defeat the Charlotte Eagles, 2-1, and win the 2008 USL Second Division championship. For more on the USL-2 and all its 2008 award winners …

Puerto Rico got a pair of goals from former Florida prep star Fabrice Noel to rally for a 2-1 win over Charleston and maintain its lead in the USL First Division. For all the USL-1 results, goal scorers and standings …

[OLYMPICS] As long as Argentina regards the Olympic soccer tournament as worth the resources and trouble it takes to field a world-class team that conforms to quirky age designations, nothing about the men’s competition needs to be changed.

[AMERICANS IN EUROPE] Freddy Adu, fresh off Olympic duty, made his French Ligue 1 debut as a 86th minute sub for Monaco in its 1-1 tie with Caen. DaMarcus Beasley, who played in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier, appeared to have scored a stoppage-time winner for Glasgow Rangers but the effort was called offside (TV replays suggest the call was a bad one) in a 1-1 tie with Aberdeen. Steve Cherundolo, ejected in midweek action for the USA, took little time to get another card when he returned to Germany. Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic helped keep Bayern Munich winless after two games in a 1-1 tie in Dortmund. For more on American performances in Europe. …

[AMERICANS IN ENGLAND] For the second week in a row, Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel was beaten from the penalty spot. Last week, Villa still managed a 4-2 win over Man City but on Saturday it fell, 3-2, to newly promoted Stoke City, whose last top-tier win came 23 years ago. Everton’s Tim Howard was beaten from the spot late in a 2-1 win over West Brom. Clint Dempsey was a 77th minute sub in Fulham’s 1-0 upset of Arsenal.

[ANALYSIS] With Mia Hamm and the other golden girls in retirement and Abby Wambach injured, the U.S. women’s national team didn’t have any big-name stars at the 2008 Olympics, but Coach Pia Sundhage put together a winning team with a collection of players who previously played supporting roles. Most notably, Angela Hucles, a reserve for much of her national team career, played every minute at the Olympics and finished as the top scorer on the tournament’s highest-scoring team. For complete player analysis …

[WPS] With the end of the Olympic women’s soccer competition, plans for the 2009 launch of Women’s Professional Soccer begin in earnest. Within a month, U.S. national team and international stars will have been allocated. Among the players WPS is reported to be targeting is Brazilian superstar Marta of Swedish club Umea.