“We only seriously considered [Portugal coach Luiz Felipe] Scolari and [Manchester City’s Sven-Goran] Eriksson. We’ve sorted out the details with Eriksson, and we are about to confirm him.”
— Mexican soccer federation President Justino Compean indicates that former England national team coach, the Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, who most recently coached Manchester City, will be Hugo Sanchez‘s successor as head coach of El Tri. (Ticker)
The Charleston Battery won its fifth straight game with a 2-0 win over Atlanta and hold a four-point lead in the USL First Division. Randi Patterson scored for the fifth straight game and Aaron King added a goal. For all the USL results and goal scorers …
“Anybody who writes about their fans being the best in the league has never been here because it’s not even close.”
— D.C. United President Kevin Payne on suggestions that Toronto FC’s BMO Field has surpassed RFK for the best atmosphere in MLS. (Washington Post)
[ENGLAND] Barcelona’s Frank Rijkaard, Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini, Russia coach Guus Hiddink and Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson are among the names being mentioned as possible candidates to replace Israeli Avram Grant, who was fired as manager of Chelsea on Saturday.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] U.S. international Ali Kreiger started for FFC Frankfurt on Saturday when it beat Umea of Sweden, 3-2, to win the UEFA Women’s Cup, 4-3, on aggregate before a UEFA women’s record crowd of 27,640.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] New Mexican Edgar Castillo started for Santos in a 2-2 tie with Monterrey that gave it a 3-2 aggregate tie and moved it into the finals of Mexico’s Torneo Clausura. Dallas product Marco Vidal started for Indios Saturday in a 2-2 tie with Leon that gave them a 3-2 victory on aggregate and clinched Mexico’s Premier A (second level) title.
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] The USL-1’s Puerto Rico Islanders moved one step closer to reaching the Concacaf Champions League, which begins play this summer, when it held Trinidad & Tobago’s San Juan Jabloteh to a 0-0 tie on Saturday and won their Caribbean qualifying series, 1-0, on aggregate.
Chicago and New England moved into ties with Columbus for the Eastern Conference lead, while Los Angeles took over the lead in the Western Conference. For all the MLS weekend summaries, current standings and leading scorers and this week’s schedule …
[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] From the penalty spot, Landon Donovan scored his league-leading ninth goal of the season and David Beckham struck from inside his own half as the Galaxy moved into first place in the West. D.C. United ended its losing streak as last year’s leading scorer, Luciano Emilio, finally found the net again. For the weekend’s MLS highlights …
[ENGLAND-USA] The addition of one MLS player and all-too-English weather highlighted the first few days of preparation for the USA men’s national team friendly against England at Wembley on Wednesday (TV: ESPN Classic, live, 3 p.m. ET, Galavision, 7 p.m. ET/PT).
[AMERICANS ABROAD] DaMarcus Beasley celebrated his 26th birthday and first start in six months by scoring one goal and setting up the winning goal to lead Glasgow Rangers to a 3-2 win over Queen of the South in Saturday’s final of the Scottish FA Cup.
[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] The USA lost to Ivory Coast, 1-0, and Italy, 2-0, to finish with three losses at the Festival Espoirs International in Toulon, France.
What had been billed as a reunion — a meeting of old and new — transformed into a rivalry when the San Jose Earthquakes hosted the defending MLS champion Houston Dynamo Thursday night on national television. The Quakes are still last in the Western Conference, but after upending Houston, 2-1, at Buck Shaw Stadium they are no longer winless at home, and more importantly, they are generating some real, genuine attitude.
“We must extend the period of residency from two to five years. Today in Brazil, 6,000 professional soccer players are eligible to play for any league in the world.”
— FIFA president Sepp Blatter, warning that half the players at the 2014 World Cup will be Brazilian if the trend continues of players switching nationalities. (Le Monde)
[TELEVISION] Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea on ESPN2 was the highest-rated and most-watched UEFA telecast in the network’s history. In addition, the game drew the highest rating ever or ESPN Deportes, which has received Hispanic sample ratings since April 28.
[SCOTLAND] Like the English Premier League race, the Scottish Premier League race went down to the final day of the season with two teams tied for the first place, and the team with the edge in the tiebreaker prevailed without needing to win on a count of goal difference.
[OFF THE POST] Viennese residents aren’t exactly waiting in anticipation for the start of Euro ’08 — Austria is considered the weakest host team in the history of major international competition — but locals are up in arms after learning that beer at the official fan zone in the historic center of Vienna will cost the equivalent of $7, or $2 more than a beer with cost at the same venues in co-host Switzerland.
[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] The Olympic finals in China with Argentina or Champions League qualifying with Barcelona? Lionel Messi said he plans on playing for Argentina at the Olympic Games in August instead of Barcelona’s Champions League third qualifying round series.
Columbus looks to hold on to its lead in the Eastern Conference when it hosts defending conference champion New England on Saturday. FC Dallas plays its first game under interim coach Marco Ferruzzi when it welcomes Real Salt Lake. D.C. United hosts FC Toronto three days after the Canadian team handed it its fourth straight defeat. For all of this week’s MLS action on television …
[LIBERTADORES CUP] Club America was last in the Mexican First Division this spring, but it’s through to the semifinals of South America’s Libertadores Cup thanks to its 2-1 aggregate victory over famed Santos of Brazil.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] New Mexican Edgar Castillo started at left back for Santos in its 1-1 tie at Monterrey in the first leg of their semifinal series in Mexico’s Torneo Clausura. U.S. U-23 defender Michael Orozco did not play in San Luis’ 1-0 loss at home to Cruz Azul on Wednesday. In the first leg of the Primera A finals to determine promotion to the First Division, Texan Marco Vidal started for Indios in the Ciudad Juarez team’s 1-0 win over Leon.
[MLS] Two new names will appear on the San Jose roster for Thursday’s reunion match against Houston (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m. ET), but neither is the big name its fans are hoping for. Yet both have won league titles.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] The Scottish Premier League will be decided Thursday when Celtic plays at Dundee United and Rangers is at Aberdeen (TV: Setanta pay-per-view, live, 2:45 pm ET). It comes three days after Rangers pulled even with Celtic thanks to a 3-0 win over St. Mirren that saw American DaMarcus Beasley return to action for the first time in nearly six months.
[OFF THE POST] Diego Maradona scored “with the hand of god,” while Kaka shows off his undershirt that proclaims, “I belong to Jesus.” Soccer and religion go back many years. One of the attractions for Euro ’08 visitors in Vienna next month will be the “Fußball und Religion” exhibition at the Vienna Catholic Church’s dommuseum.
[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] In the last major test for U.S. Olympic men’s hopefuls, the U-23s fell to Turkey, 3-2, Wednesday in the opening game of the Festival Espoirs International in Toulon, France.
