Category: Soccer America Daily

[WPS] Expansion teams Atlanta and Philadelphia made their selections in Women’s Professional Soccer’s expansion draft, selecting five players apiece whose WPS rights they acquired.

[MLS PREDICTION] After splitting back-to-back games with Toronto FC earlier this month, Colorado hosts San Jose five days after the teams played a 1-1 tie in Northern California. This is the penultimate home game of the 2009 season for the Rapids; the finale is against New England, so they need this one in the worst way.

[REF WATCH] A former MLS head coach who shall remain nameless once uttered these words in regards to penalty kicks and the amount of time spent discussing them by players, coaches, and journalists: “Every week, in every league and every competition in every part of the world, you’re going to see penalties called and not called. All of us – coaches, players, the media, the fans, everybody – spend way too much time talking about penalties given and not given. They’re almost always critical moments in the game, so it makes sense. But …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] After sitting out the last three league games, Michael Bradley started and went 90 minutes for Borussia Moenchengladbach and was yellow-carded as it fell, 1-0, in the German Cup to second division MSV Duisburg. Americans in England didn’t fare well either.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Houston set up a monumental clash with Mexican club Pachuca by beating Arabe Unido of Panama, 5-1, in Group A of the regional championship Tuesday. Four different Dynamo players scored, with substitute Stuart Holden netting twice, and Brian Mullan logged two assists as Houston (2-1-1, 7 points) moved into a second-place tie with Arabe Unido (2-1-1). The Dynamo is two points behind leader Pachuca (3-1-0, 9 points), which took over first place by pounding Isidro Metapan of El Salvador, 4-0.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] The Puerto Rico Islanders, the sensations of the inaugural Concacaf Champions League, find themselves on the verge of elimination in the 2009-10 edition following a 1-1 tie with Costa Rica’s Saprissa on Tuesday. They must now turn their attention to the USL First Division playoffs, which begin Thursday at Rochester.

[REF WATCH] Swiss referee Massimo Busacca, the man in the middle for the last UEFA Champions League final and a World Cup 2006 ref, has been banned for three games for flipping the bird at Young Boys fans after they jeered him during a game against third division FC Baden.

[UNDER-17 WORLD CUP] The USA is holding its final international training camp to prepare for the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria. Coach Wilmer Cabrera brought in 22 U-17 players for a 10-day camp in Cobham, England. The only player not currently in the under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla., is former FC Greater Boston Bolts midfielder Will Packwood, who plays in Birmingham City’s youth system. Not in camp is English-based U-17 star Sebastian Lletget, who joined West Ham’s academy program this summer. For the complete roster and game schedule …

[COLLEGE] Michael Nanchoff, who scored on a free kick to give No. 1 Akron a 1-0 win over Indiana, is Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week for games played Sept. 14-20. For the Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week …

[COLLEGE] Freshman goalie Amy Howard, who made 12 saves to earn Auburn a 0-0 tie against top-ranked North Carolina, is Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week for games played Sept. 14-20. For the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week …

[USL-1] The two-leg series in the USL First Division quarterfinals will take place Thursday and Sunday. The two Canadian entrants, defending champion Vancouver and Montreal, will be at home in the first leg, while Puerto Rico will travel to Rochester in the third game, two days after the Islanders host Saprissa of Costa Rica in the Concacaf Champions League.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] The second phase of the regional championship’s group play gets underway this week, as the teams run through their three opponents for the second time. Houston starts off action for the three MLS participants Tuesday by hosting Panamanian club Arabe Unido at Robertson Stadium (10 p.m. ET), Columbus plays Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul Wednesday (8 p.m. ET) at Columbus Crew Stadium, and D.C. United faces CD Marathon of Honduras Thursday (8 p.m. ET) at RFK Stadium. All of the games will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel, and since the MLS teams are playing at home and none are atop their groups, each needs a victory.

[MLS] The league is doing what it can to build its ratings on ESPN2. A scheduled telecast for an Oct. 7 meeting between FC Dallas and San Jose that likely will have no effect on the playoff race has been scrapped; instead, the final game of the season, New England and Columbus on Oct. 25, will be aired at 5 p.m. ET. League and network executives, said league spokesman Will Kuhns, have worked to give league telecasts better lead-in programming as well as showcase the top teams as much as possible.

[MLS] Jeremy Hall was the New York Red Bulls’ first selection in the 2009 SuperDraft. Even though he was drafted as an attacking player from last year’s NCAA champs, Maryland, Jeremy has found his way on the field with the Red Bull’s as a defender and has made 20 appearances. Get to know the 21-year-old in this profile by Soccer America’s Bryan Alvarez that covers on and off-field experiences.

[OFF THE POST] Universidad Chile striker Juan Manuel Olivera had to be taken away by ambulance after a collision with O’Higgins goalkeeper Jorge Rivera. Then Olivera’s arrival at the hospital was delayed for two hours because the ambulance crashed and the replacement vehicle was stuck in rush-hour traffic.

[ENGLAND] Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson called it probably the greatest Manchester derby, and few fans would doubt him after United won the see-saw match, 4-3, on what Ferguson called a “world-class” goal by Michael Owen six minutes into stoppage time. On the other side, City manager Mark Hughes said his team was robbed after the fourth official had indicated that only four minutes of additional time would be played.

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] David Beckham scored his second goal of the season and notched his third assist in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 2-0 win over Toronto FC. Houston and Kansas City pulled off exciting wins, but Seattle disappointed its loyal following once again.

The visiting Columbus Crew tied Chicago Fire, 2-2, in their Eastern Conference’s top-of-the-standings clash and held on to its three-point lead with a game in hand. The Los Angeles Galaxy beat Toronto FC, 2-0, and kept it within two points of the Houston Dynamo, a 3-2 winner over Real Salt Lake, in the battle for the lead in the Western Conference. For all the weekend summaries, current standings and leading scorers …

Barcelona and Real Madrid romped in Spain, where they are tied with Athletic Bilbao for first place. Leaders Sampdoria and Juventus won their fourth games in a row in Italy. Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim and Mainz  took advantage of ties by Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen to move to within three points of the lead in Germany. For the weekend results and current standings …

[USL-1] The USL First Division field had been set since Sept. 11, so the final week determined the first-round pairings for the six teams behind regular-season champion Portland. Carolina, which had never advanced to the playoffs, took second place and will defending champion Vancouver in the first round. Other first-round pairings: Puerto Rico-Rochester and Charleston-Montreal. Complicating the playoff picture for the Islanders is their home game Tuesday against Saprissa of Costa Rica in the Concacaf Champions League.

[MLS PLAYOFF WATCH] The one-two teams in both conferences stayed where they were, with the respective leaders, the Crew and Dynamo, both on top with 43 points. Columbus (11-4-10) rallied for a 2-2 tie away to Chicago (10-6-10) to maintain a three-point lead over the Fire, and Houston (12-8-7) prevailed at home, 3-2, against Real Salt Lake to stay two points ahead of Los Angeles (10-5-11), which beat Toronto, 2-0. Here is our weekly rankings of the wild-card teams chasing the four spots behind the first and second teams in each conference, which qualify automatically for the playoffs.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Midfielder Michael Bradley was left out of Borussia Moenchengladbach’s lineup for the third straight game. Among the few highlights for Americans abroad last weekend came from goalkeepers in England.