Category: Soccer America Daily

[REF WATCH] Referees, linesmen and fourth officials for the SuperLiga, the competition comprised of four MLS teams and four Mexican first division clubs, have been announced and include officials from the USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Surinam.

[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] The 2008 Olympic men’s soccer competition will be a star-studded event, headed by Barcelona stars Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi, who will lead Brazil and defending champion Argentina, respectively. Italian-American Giuseppe Rossi is in Italy’s team. New Zealand has called up five current or former U.S. collegians. For all the Olympic men’s news …

From the first day he took the job Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been fixated on rebuilding and renovating the MLS team that has promised the most and delivered the least. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney explains why the next few months will reveal if Osorio can truly transform a team.

[TRANSFER TALK] Australian national team captain Harry Kewell has completed a move to Turkish champions Galatasaray, signing a two-year deal with the Istanbul club.

[OFF THE POST] Newcastle United has denied reports that the Saudi Binladen Group (SBG), a multinational construction conglomerate whose chief executive is Osama Bin Laden‘s half-brother Bakr Bin Laden, has made a $600 million bid for the English Premier League team.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Freddy Adu, who spent the 2007-08 season with Portugal’s Benfica, for which he appeared in only 11 games, may be headed to French first division club Monaco, whose president is French-American Jerome de Bontin. French and Dutch media also report that Monaco is making a $13 million offer to Dutch club Heerenveen for U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley.

[SPAIN] Barcelona president Joan Laporta lost a confidence vote but survived his post and vowed see out his term through 2010. During his tenure, Barcelona signed a five-year commercial agreement with MLS that includes its two-game U.S. tour this summer.

The Charleston Battery beat the defending champion Seattle Sounders, 1-0, to open up a four-point lead at the top of the USL First Division. For all the results and goal scorers …

[MLS] Luke Sassano has earned eight starts in 12 appearances in his rookie year for the New York Red Bulls. After playing the majority of his soccer (high school, club and college) in Northern California, Sassano has made a seamless transition to the East Coast. Find out what the best advice the former Cal Bear got from a youth coach in this profile by Soccer America’s Bryan Alvarez that covers Sassano’s on- and off-field experiences …

[MLS AWARDS] With four MLS teams competing in SuperLiga, the first round of which concludes just in time for the All-Star Game, the load of league matches in July will decrease significantly from that of June, during which five weekends of play helped sort out teams in both conferences. Sort of.

[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] The USA continued its domination of Norway with a 4-0 victory on Wednesday in Fredrikstad — the 10th straight win by the Americans over the Norwegians.

[TRANSFER TALK] Brazilian Jo may be in the doghouse of Brazilian national team coach Dunga, but he’s certainly a hot commodity on the international transfer market, as reflected by the $36 million it’s believed Manchester City paid CSKA Moscow to acquire the 21-year-old striker.

[OFF THE POST] With the end of the Euro 2008 festivities, soccer fans may be looking for a taste of international soccer to whet their appetite. Look no further than the VIVA World Cup. You may have some difficulty getting to the Arctic to attend the tournament, and the games probably won’t be on TV, but it’s hard to find a tournament with more international appeal.

U.S. under-20 men’s national team coach Thomas Rongen has named five MLS players to the roster that will compete against the Mexico U-20 national team on July 12 in Laredo, Texas. The roster includes three players from FC Dallas — Josh Lambo, Brek Shea and Anthony Wallace — Chivas USA’s Jorge Flores, who has scored three goals this season, and Brandon Manzonelli, who joined the New England Revolution in late May from the Villarreal (Spain) youth system. For the complete roster …

Major League Soccer’s July 4 weekend begins Thursday when Real Salt Lake hosts defending champion Houston in a key Western Conference battle. Three games take place on July 4, and the weekend action concludes with a Fox Soccer Channel doubleheader on Saturday. For all the MLS matchups and television schedule …

[LIBERTADORES CUP] Brazilian club Fluminense believes overturning a two-goal deficit won’t be a problem when it hosts Ecuador’s LDU Quito in the second leg of the Libertadores Cup final on Wedesday (TV: Fox Sports en Espanol, 8:30 pm ET).