Category: Soccer America Daily

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Tragedy struck on the opening weekend of play in the second round of World Cup 2010 qualifying in Africa when at least eight fans died of suffocation in a rush to enter an overcrowded Samuel K. Doe Stadium in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, where the Lone Star hosted Gambia on Sunday.

[EURO ’08 COUNTDOWN] The Netherlands’ defensive deficiencies were exposed on Thursday when the Oranje had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Denmark Thursday in a friendly played in Eindhoven … Recalled strikers Alessandro Del Piero and Antonio Cassano could get starts in Italy’s three-player attack when Italy faces Belgium Friday in Belgium … For the latest Euro ’08 news …

[OFF THE POST] The Czech soccer federation apologized and two of its officials have taken the fall after the Czechs, while hosting Lithuania, played the national anthem of Latvia before the game and hung the Lithuanian national flag upside down.

[ITALY] For weeks now, reports out of Italy have circulated that “the Special One,” Jose Mourinho, was poised to take over as coach of three-time Italian champion Inter Milan, and speculation intensified following the confirmation that Coach Roberto Mancini had been sacked on Thursday.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Santos, with 21-year-old New Mexican product Edgar Castillo, won the first leg of the Mexico’s Clausura championship final, 2-1, at Cruz Azul. Santos, for which Castillo played the full 90 at left back, hosts the second leg Sunday (6 pm ET, live on Azteca America).

[LIBERTADORES CUP] Juan Roman Riquelme scored twice as defending champion Boca Juniors tied Brazil’s Fluminense in the first leg of their Libertadores Cup semifinal game in Buenos Aires. In the other semifinal, Mexico’s America tied Liga de Quito, 1-1, in Mexico City.

[MLS] New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio and Sporting Director Jeff Agoos will now be reporting to Erik Stover, who has been named the club’s managing director. Stover replaces Marc de Grandpre, who resigned on April 9.

[ENGLAND-USA GRADES] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’
performance in their 2-0 loss to England on Wednesday.

The 2008 U.S. Open Cup will begin June 10 with 32 teams from the USL-1, USL-2, PDL and USASA competing in the first round.

[EURO ’08 ROSTERS] No coach had a tougher time getting down to his 23-player limit for Euro ’08 than France coach Raymond Domenech. An emotional Domenech said Wednesday cutting the seven players from his short list was the toughest decision of his career. Among the players he told at the team camp in Tignes to go home were striker Djibril Cisse and keeper Mickael Landreau. Two sensational goals by 22-year-old rookie Bafetimbi Gomis on Tuesday against Ecuador earned him a place in Domenech’s squad. Turkey’s final cuts included high-profile veterans Ibrahim Kas, Halil Altintop and Yildiray Basturk. For all the final Euro ’08 rosters …

[OFF THE POST] Juan Carlos Bazalar and his son, Alonso, played together in midfield for Cienciano in its 3-2 win over Juan Aurich in the Peruvian First Division on Sunday. The 40-year-old Juan Carlos has played for the Peruvian national team, including appearances at last year’s Copa America. Alonso, 18, represented Peru at the 2007 U-17 World Cup and is considered one the nation’s top prospects.

[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] Leslie Osborne, a key midfielder for the U.S. women’s national team, is out of contention for a berth on the Olympic team after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during training last Thursday at The Home Depot Center, in Carson, Calif.

When the USA faces England at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday (TV: ESPN Classic, live, 3 p.m. ET, Galavision, 7 p.m. ET/PT), the players up top must step up. U.S. coach Bob Bradley at the very least must find a suitable attacking companion for Landon Donovan (or a tandem to free Donovan to play elsewhere) for the rugged schedule ahead over the next 18 months, and the Wembley game will give him a chance to evaluate the form of his European-based forwards.

[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer, the new women’s pro league, announced plans to add a team in Philadelphia in 2010. It hopes to play in the new soccer stadium expected to open in Chester, Pa., in 2010, the same year an MLS Philadelphia expansion team will begin play.

[FIFA] The controversial ban on international matches played at high altitude has been provisionally shelved by FIFA’s executive committee.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Canadian qualifying play for the new Concacaf Champions League opened Tuesday at Stade Saputo, the new home of the Montreal Impact, where Toronto FC defeated the USL-1 club, 1-0, on Puerto Rican defender Marco Velez‘s goal off a cross from Frenchman Laurent Robert in the 72nd minute.

[EURO ’08 COUNTDOWN] Tuesday was the final day for players to impress European national team coaches before they must cut their rosters for the European Championship down to 23 players on Wednesday. No player made a better case for himself than Bafetimbi Gomis, who scored two spectacular goals in his international debut to help France beat Ecuador, 2-0.

[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.

[HALL OF FAME] Veteran Newark Star-Ledger sportswriter Ike Kuhns has been selected to receive the 2008 Colin Jose Media Award and will be honored during the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s Induction 2008 Weekend Aug. 1-3 in Oneonta, N.Y.