Category: Soccer America Daily

[CHAMPIONS] Bernd Schuster has accomplished what the six Real Madrid head coaches before him did not. He’ll keep his job for a second year. It wasn’t easy, but Schuster led Real Madrid to the 2008 Spanish La Liga title, which it clinched on Sunday when it rallied from a one-goal deficit to win, 2-1, at Osasuna, and give it a 10-point lead over second-place Villarreal with three games to play.

[CHAMPIONS] Bayern Munich’s spending spree paid big dividends as its clinched its 21st German league title (and 20th since the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963) and third domestic double with a 0-0 tie at Wolfsburg on Sunday that left it 10 points ahead of Werder Bremen with three games to play.

[EUROPEAN RACES] Manchester United moved to within one win of clinching the Premier League title after beating West Ham United, 4-1, at Old Trafford on Saturday. But the races tightened in France and Italy, where defending champions Lyon and Inter Milan had their leads reduced to two points and three points, respectively, with two games to play.

The Seattle Sounders won a rematch of last year’s USL-1 championship game when they beat the Atlanta Silverbacks, 2-0, on the road on Friday night. Goals from Leighton O’Brien and Sebastien LeToux gave Seattle its first win in three games, all on the road. For all the USL-1 results and goal scorers …

[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] For the second time in a week, the U.S. women’s national team blew a multiple-goal lead over Australia and needed a goal in stoppage time to prevail over the Matildas. The Americans gave up two own goals and gave up a three-goal lead in the second half before winning, 5-4, on substitute midfielder Angela Hucles‘ gamewinner in the 94th minute.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Brian McBride scored for Fulham in a 2-0 win over Birmingham that moved the Cottagers out of the relegation zone for the first time since Dec. 22. The team with four other Americans will almost certainly avoid the drop from the English Premier League if it wins its final game against Portsmouth next Sunday. Reading, with two Americans, fell into the relegation zone with a 1-0 loss to Tottenham. Reading is tied on points with Fulham but has an inferior goal difference of six.

[YOUTH] U.S. under-20 men’s national team head coach Thomas Rongen is taking 18 players to Manchester, England, for a week-long training camp. One of the assistant coaches on the trip is former MLS great Marco Etcheverry. For the U-20 roster …

UEFA Champions League finalists Manchester United and Chelsea, tied for the English Premier League, are in action on Saturday and Monday, respectively on the next-to-last-day of the season. Inter Milan can wrap up the Serie A title when it faces city rival AC Milan on Sunday. The races can also be decided in Germany and Spain. In Argentina, the Buenos Aires clasico between Boca Juniors and River Plate takes place on Saturday. For all the weekend international action on television …

[OFF THE POST] Japan striker Kazuki Ganaha has spent about $100,000 in legal fees fighting the J-League’s ban on intravenous garlic infusions. Ganaha was suspended for six games for shooting garlic up his veins to battle the flu last year. Although the pungent onion relative isn’t a banned substance, the J-League prohibits intravenous treatment.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] The bid of Michael Bradley‘s Heerenveen to reach next year’s Champions League third qualifying round suffered a blow when it fell at home to Ajax, 2-1, on Thursday in the first leg of their semifinal series.

[UEFA CUP] Rangers and Zenit St. Petersburg will meet in the final of the UEFA Cup on May 14 in Manchester after pulling upsets on Thursday. Rangers, with a former U.S. college star, beat Fiorentina, 4-2, in a shootout after the second leg, like the first, ended in a 0-0 tie. Zenit beat Bayern, 4-0, at home to advance, 5-1, on aggregate.

[YOUTH] The U.S. U-17 girls national team will continue preparations for CONCACAF qualifying for the first U-17 Women’s World Cup with a week-long training camp beginning Thursday in Sunrise, Fla. For the U-17 girls roster …

Bill Goaziou, U.S. Soccer’s treasurer during its period of rapid growth since the 1994 World Cup, passed away Wednesday, at the age of 68 after battling emphysema. Goaziou first took office in 1994 and was re-elected three times as teasurer in 1998, 2000 and 2004, making him one of the longest-serving federation officers of the modern era.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP] Mexico’s Pachuca successfully defended its Concacaf Champions Cup title with a 2-1 home win over Costa Rica’s Saprissa for a 3-2 aggregate victory. Pachuca’s Jose Francisco Torres, a 20-year-old Texas product,didn’t see action in the second-leg of the final on Wednesday, but started and played 62 minutes in the first leg, and saw action in both semifinals.