Category: Soccer America Daily

David Beckham wasn’t in the house, but Landon Donovan arrived in time to watch from a luxury box and Eddie Lewis, the newest member of the Galaxy, observed from an adjoining suite. The former didn’t miss much and the latter pair probably saw more than they wanted to.

[MAKING A LIST] The move of Eddie Lewis to the Los Angeles Galaxy after eight seasons in England marks the 11th American — nine of them U.S. internationals — to return from European clubs this summer to play in Major League Soccer.

[AMERICANS ABROAD/VIDEO] Just days after arriving at Monaco from the Summer Olympics in China, where he represented the USA in men’s soccer, Freddy Adu is ready to make his debut for his new French club, Monaco, but he faces stiff competition for playing time from a crop of young players who have exceeded expectations in the opening weeks of the 2008-09 season.

Gary Smith debuts as Colorado interim coach when the Rapids travel to D.C. United on Saturday. The match has playoff implications for both teams, currently out of the top three in their respective conferences. New York needs a win over Western Conference leader Houston Sunday to bolster its playoff hopes. San Jose can get out of the Western Conference basement with a win at Chivas USA on Saturday.

MEMBERSHIP ALERT: A special edition will appear later Thursday with coverage of the USA-Brazil women’s gold-medal game, so look for this e-newsletter from Soccer America’s editors. For fans not wishing to read our coverage until after they have watched the game, the subject line of these e-letters will begin “Special Olympic Edition.”

[MLS] When the season began, the two most tenuous head coaches were Fernando Clavijo in Colorado and Sigi Schmid in Columbus. One is riding high, the other just got dumped. With one-third of the season to go, Schmid is firmly entrenched, as is the Eastern Conference leading-Crew. A surprise firing in Dallas (Steve Morrow) and a shocking-yet-not-surprising dismissal (Ruud Gullit) in Los Angeles preceded the seemingly inevitable departure of Clavijo, who left the country last week to be with his seriously ill brother in his native Uruguay and on Monday officially terminated his tenure.

International play resumed with Europe’s top teams all in action in friendly action on Wednesday. Euro ’08 champion Spain was playing its first game under Vicente Del Bosque, while Italy and Portugal both welcomed back former coaches. For all the results …

[MLS RESULTS/SCHEDULE] For the second time in a week, the Houston Dynamo scored four goals in the first half. On Wednesday, the two-time defending champ followed up on Saturday’s 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake with a 4-0 victory over Chivas USA. Also on Wednesday, New England reclaimed first place in the East with a 2-1 win over D.C. United. On Thursday night, Coach Bruce Arena makes his Galaxy debut when L.A. hosts the Chicago Fire (TV: ESPN2). For Wednesday’s game summaries, standings, leading scorers and this week’s MLS TV Schedule …

[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.

[OLYMPICS] Both Nigeria (1996) and Argentina (2004) have won the Olympic soccer gold medal in recent history yet neither has won it twice. After Saturday’s final (midnight ET), either Nigeria will be the only African nation to attain that feat, or Argentina will the first nation since Hungary (1964 and 1968) to win consecutive Olympic crowns.

[WORLD CUP 2010] Not so long ago the U.S. hung a big number on Guatemala, but by all indications it won’t happen Wednesday in Guatemala City when the nations kick off the semifinal round of CONCACAF 2010 World Cup qualifying (TV: 10 pm ET on ESPN2 and Galavision.) The USA has won only once in nine trips to the Central American nation of 13 million people, and that lone 1-0 victory came 20 years ago on a goal by Jeff Agoos, a rarity indeed. It tied 0-0 three years ago and 1-1 in 2000 on its last two qualifying visits.

[WORLD CUP 2010] With twelve teams divided into three groups, the Concacaf region (North and Central America and the Caribbean) begins the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying on Wednesday. Marquee games on Wednesday include the USA’s clash with Guatemala and Mexico’s hosting of Honduras (TV: Telemundo, 9 pm ET). For a group-by-group look at the Concacaf semifinal round. …

[OFF THE POST] A women blaming her husband’s affection for English club Aston Villa for the deterioration of their marriage, hung a large banner off the bridge of a busy street in Birmingham that read, “Jack, are the Villa really more important than our marriage? It’s over, Jess.”

Two MLS games take place on Wednesday. D.C. United travels to New England eight days after United beat the Revs, 3-1, to reach the U.S. Open Cup final. D.C. United, fourth place in the East, trails second-place New England by five points. Houston, which moved into first place in the West with its third-straight win last weekend, hosts sixth place Chivas USA, which is six points back of the two-time defending champion Dynamo. On Thursday, Bruce Arena makes his debut as Los Angeles coach when the Galaxy hosts Chicago. For all of this week’s MLS action on TV and the standings and leading scorers. …

[BY THE NUMBERS] Why is Bruce Arena, the Los Angeles Galaxy’s new head coach, considered the USA’s best coach ever?

[AMERICANS IN MEXICO] In the fourth game day of Mexican First Division Apertura 2008 action, 21-year-old California Jesus Padilla made his second appearance of the season for Chivas Guadalajara as a halftime sub but was red-carded in the 87th minute of of a 2-2 tie with Necaxa.

It was a successful road trip for the Puerto Rico Islanders, who beat the defending champion Seattle Sounders, 3-0, and tied the Vancouver Whitecaps, 0-0, to take over first place in the USL First Division. For all the results, goalscorers and standings …

When Landon Donovan comes back to MLS duty from Guatemala City, one of his former coaches will be his new head coach. Donovan left Sunday for Guatemala, a day before the official announcement of Bruce Arena‘s hiring as general manager and head coach of the Galaxy, which dismissed predecessor Ruud Gullit as well as president/GM Alexi Lalas last week.

[RECAP] A year ago in China, the U.S. women were thumped 4-0 by Brazil in the semifinal of Women’s World Cup. The controversy surrounding the benching by then-coach Greg Ryan of goalkeeper Hope Solo overshadowed the deficiences in the overall U.S. game against the dazzling Brazilians, who lost the final to Germany. While the USA downed Japan, 4-2, in Monday’s Olympic semifinal, the Brazilians sparkled even brighter as they downed Germany, 4-1. On Thursday, the USA defends its 2004 gold medal when it meets Brazil (9 a.m. ET, live on USA Network and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel).