Category: Soccer America Daily

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[MAKING A LIST] Ruud Gullit is the fifth Los Angeles Galaxy coach to be fired or resign in mid-season. Only two other MLS teams (New York and Columbus) have had as many as three coaches leave in mid-season.

[USA-GUATEMALA] Guatemala national team coach Ramon Maradiaga will welcome three foreign-based players — the Los Angeles Galaxy’s Carlos Ruiz, Jose Contreras of Argentina’s Arsenal and Gustavo Cabrera of Danish club Aarhus — who will join 16 player currently in training for the Aug. 20 World Cup 2010 qualifier against the USA at Guatemala City’s Mateo Flores Stadium. Recent Chicago Fire signing Marco Pappa could also get a call-up.

[TRANSFER TALK] Desperately thin up front with just days to go before the start of the EPL, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is turning his attention to an unlikely target — former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry. Ferguson is rumored to be preparing a $40 million bid for the French international, who has spent just one season at Barcelona since moving from the Gunners. Throughout his career, Henry has been vocal about his love for Arsenal, but it’s hard to think of a more traitorous act than moving to Manchester United.

MEMBERSHIP ALERT: A special edition will appear later Wednesday with coverage of the USA- Nigeria men’s match, 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.”

[WPS] Women’s pro soccer will be returning to Atlanta in 2010 when an Women’s Professional Soccer expansion team will begin play.

Make no mistake, Anschutz Entertainment Group czar Tim Leiweke knows success from failure, how to turn loss into profit, and how to move product and sell tickets. But pick a coach for the Galaxy? The naming of Cobi Jones as interim coach following Ruud Gullit‘s resignation makes it five Galaxy coaches in five years.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra, the first-choice central defenders on the U.S. national team, had contrasting fortunes with their European clubs. Onyewu scored two goals within 15 minutes and almost had a third as Standard Liege won the Belgian Super Cup with a 3-1 victory over Anderlecht. Bocanegra was less fortunate, earning a miserable rating of “3” — on a scale of 1-10 — from France Football for his French Ligue 1 debut in Rennes’ 4-4 tie with Marseille.

[PDL] The Thunder Bay Chill completed one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of the Premier Development League when it won the 2008 title with a shootout victory Saturday over the defending champion Laredo Heat in the final before 3,451 fans at Texas A&M International University. In the process, the Chill became the first Canadian team to win a PDL title.

In what could be the last meeting between these Pacific Northwest rivals, the Seattle Sounders beat the Portland Timbers, 1-0, before 12,332 fans at Portland’s PGE Park. The Sounders move to MLS in 2009. Portland intends to apply for one of the two MLS franchises that will be awarded for the 2011 season. For all the results, goal scorers and standings …

[RECAP] The USA was denied of one of its greatest victories in Olympic men’s soccer history when a stoppage-time goal by Gerald Sibon spared the European U-21 champion Netherlands the embarrassment of losing to the Americans. Sunday’s 2-2 tie left the Americans in first place, ahead of Nigeria on total goals, in Group B, but instead of being assured a berth in the quarterfinals, they will probably need a result against Nigeria on Wednesday to advance. A task made all the more difficult because Freddy Adu, excellent against the Oranje, and Michael Bradley will be suspended.

[RECAP] The days of the USA’s total dominance in women’s soccer are over. In its second game at the Olympics, the USA eked out a 1-0 victory over Japan — a scenario that would have been heretofore unimaginable. But after the 2-0 loss to Norway in its opening game, the Americans will take it. With New Zealand on tap for Tuesday, the U.S. women are in good shape to advance to the quarterfinals, but the damage of the Norway loss has been done. They’ll probably have to play Germany or Brazil in the quarterfinals.

[MY VIEW] You have to respect Foppe De Haan for his honesty. The Dutch coach, who before his team’s game against the USA dismissed the Americans as an ordinary team, admitted afterward that he didn’t have a “real team.” As surprising as the U.S. effort was after four straight pre-Olympic games without a goal and an opening game in which it won on a rare sortie, the Dutch no-show in Game 2 was a shocker.

[RECAP] With a spirited effort, the U.S. Olympic men’s team beat Japan, 1-0, Thursday in Tianjin, and thanks to good fortune landed in first place in Group B.

MEMBERSHIP ALERT: Special editions with U.S. Olympic soccer coverage will appear Saturday and Sunday, so look for our coverage this weekend. 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.”

With the start of other Olympic sports, coverage of the USA-Japan women’s game on Saturday and USA-Netherlands men’s game on Sunday moves to USA Network as part of its multiprocessor Olympic coverage. Complete soccer coverage will be available on the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and online at nbcolympics.com. Check with your television provider for the availability of the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

[SUPERLIGA] Maybe the second year of SuperLiga didn’t quite match the first edition, which ended when Pachuca edged the Galaxy on penalties at a raucous Home Depot Center, but a few MLS participants are certainly in favor of seeing a third version, at least

[AMERICANS ABROAD] The French season begins Saturday with two American internationals new to Ligue 1. While Rennes is counting up Carlos Bocanegra to help on its backline, Freddy Adu is sure to be welcomed at Monaco when he returns from the Olympics in China.

Toronto FC, winless in its last six games, travels to Colorado, which has won once in its last eight outings. … New England hosts Chicago, which beat the Revs in their first two meetings by a by a combined score of 7-0. … Chivas USA and Kansas City clash for the first time this season. … On Sunday, D.C. United travels to New York, which fell 4-1 in the teams’ previous 2008 clash. For all of this weekend’s MLS action on TV and the standings and leading scorers. …

[OFF THE POST] Uli Hoeness, general manager of German power Bayern Munich, lashed out at Chelsea owner and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich when asked by German Web site Spox.com about what bothers him: “I’m angered when once a week I fill up my gas tank. This oil mafia pulls the money out of my pocket to buy soccer players. It stinks and this goes for Mr. Abramovich, too.”