Category: Soccer America Daily

The Baltimore Bays and LAFC moved into Friday’s final of the U-17/18 Group at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s Finals Week at the Home Depot Center. For all Wednesday’s results and goal scorers …

[SUPERLIGA] New England and Chivas USA took giant strides towards qualifying for the SuperLiga semifinals Wednesday night by scraping out 1-0 victories against their Mexican rivals in Group B.

The eight conference starting XI squads and coaches of the year were announced for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Under-17/18 age groups. Among the recipients were former U.S. national team star Bruce Murray, selected as the Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year for his work with CASL. For all the awards …

The U.S. women will head to the 2008 Olympic Games on the momentum of two straight victories over nemesis Brazil — and a 21-0-1 record in 2008 — but they will do so without their top scorer.

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

Claudio Reyna, who played 112 games for the U.S. national team, has called a press conference for Wednesday to announce that he is retiring midway through his second injury-plagued season with MLS’s New York Red Bulls.

[BY THE NUMBERS] Claudio Reyna, who turns 35 on July 20, played professionally in the top tier leagues of England, Scotland and Germany and in three World Cups. He joined the New York Red Bulls in 2007 and played 27 MLS games. …

[TRANSFER TALK] Real Madrid winger Robinho is frustrated with his role as a pawn in the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer saga. If Ronaldo joins the Spanish giants, Robinho will be sold to recoup part of the expected world record transfer fee. If Ronaldo stays with Manchester United, then Robinho will be welcomed back to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu for another year.

Slobo Ilijevski, one of the greatest goalies in the history of pro indoor soccer, died on Monday two days after after suffering a rupture of his aorta while playing for St. Louis club Kutis’ over-55 men’s team in a tournament in Seattle.

[SUPERLIGA] Both teams need to win, but both Houston and D.C. United must approach their SuperLiga showdown Saturday at RFK with the bigger picture in mind.

[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] The Netherlands and Nigeria, which the USA will meet in Group B at next month’s Olympic men’s soccer competition, will be sending star-studded teams to China. The Dutch squad includes Liverpool star Ryan Babel, Real Madrid’s Royston Drenthe and Canadian-born Jonathan De Guzman, as well as overage players Gerald Sibon, Roy Makaay and Kew Jaliens. Nigeria’s squad includes Taye Taiwo of Marseille, Victor Anichebe of Everton and Getafe’s Ikechukwu Uche. For all the selections …

[MLS] The roster for the MLS team that will face West Ham United July 24 at Toronto’s BMO Field in the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game was completed when seven players were added to the 18-player roster, including a trio of Canadian national team players.

The first 12 games at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s Finals Week at the Home Depot Center produced an average of 3.5 goals a game and featured three hat tricks in U-17/18 play. For all the results and goal scorers …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Scottish FA Cup hero DaMarcus Beasley was injured in Rangers’ 1-0 victory over German fourth division club Preussen Munster, the first of three games during its preseason camp in the Netherlands.

[TRANSFER TALK] Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov nearly moved from Tottenham Hotspur last summer after he scored 23 goals in his first season with the London club. After another season with 23 goals, Berbatov has made it clear that he wants to play in the Champions League and he could be headed to Manchester United in a deal approaching $60 million.

[VIDEO ARCHIVE] Here’s some footage of Fernando Torres‘ scoring exploits back when he really was “El Nino.”

[OFF THE POST] Luiz Felipe Scolari may have recently claimed that Didier Drogba is “200 percent” part of his plans but that hasn’t stopped Marseille fans from raising enough money to buy themselves 6 percent of the player.

[OFF THE POST] Michael Keane consumed one too many bowls of Irish stew, and it’s cost him his job. The midfielder was dismissed from Irish club St Patrick’s Athletic for being overweight. The club terminated its $6,000 a week contract with the 25-year-old.

[YOUTH] The USA scored three first-half goals — one from former U.S. U-17 standout Sheanon Williams and two from the University of Michigan’s Peri Marosevic — to beat Mexico, 3-0, in an under-20 friendly played in the border town of Laredo, Texas.