D.C. United’s Luciano Emilio won the goal scoring title. New England’s Steve Ralston led MLS in assists. Chris Klein ended up playing two games above the maximum of 30 following his trade from Real Salt Lake to Los Angeles. For all the 2007 MLS statistical leaders …
Category: Soccer America Daily
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
German tint to Poland-USA friendly
[PREVIEW] When the USA and Poland national teams renew their biennial international series Wednesday in Krakow (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel), the match will be shaded by the influences of a third country. Players of both nations play in Germany or have done so in the past, the teams last met two years ago in Kaiserslautern, and Poland is using the friendly to prepare for its opening game in the 2008 European Championship: a June 8 date with, you guessed it, Germany. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney looks at how both teams will approach the game.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“In all my years in the game, that’s probably the worst performance I’ve ever seen.”
— Toronto FC’s first-year coach John Carver after last season’s worst MLS team finished its 2008 preseason with a 2-0 loss to the USL’s Charleston Battery. (National Post)
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Freddy Adu leads the class
[OLYMPIC QUALIFYING GRADES] U.S. under-23 national team coach Peter Nowak got a look at all 20 players on his roster during Concacaf Olympic qualifying that concluded Sunday. Every player who was with the team for the duration played at least two games. Top marks for players who played two or more games went to Freddy Adu, Stuart Holden, Maurice Edu and Dax McCarty. For all the average grades …
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Wizards’ Real win build confidence ahead of D.C. clash
[MLS COUNTDOWN] Last year, Kansas City pounded D.C. United, 4-2, to start a season that eventually produced the Wizards first postseason appearance in three years. The Wizards will open against D.C. again when the 2008 season kicks off this weekend, and tuned up for their repeat performance by beating Real Salt Lake, 1-0, Saturday at the Saturn Cup in Norman, Okla.
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Quakes down Bulls en route to Carolina Cup title
San Jose and Red Bull New York were supposed to meet Saturday on the opening day of the season but renovations to the Quakes’ temporary home, Buck Shaw Stadium, couldn’t be completed in time, and so both teams instead will have a bye this weekend. They did meet in late March regardless.
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Toronto comes off nightmare weekend
Building depth is one of Toronto FC’s tenets for its second MLS season but based on results and the comments of Coach John Carver at the Carolina Challenge Cup just having enough bodies doesn’t mean you have a deep squad.
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Proposing a no-go zone
[REF WATCH] Recent incidents in the English Premier League have Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson saying, “The haranguing of referees is ridiculous, we know that” and Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the players’ union (PFA) suggesting an "exclusion zone" around referees.
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Houston Texans lift U-16 crown at Dallas Cup
[CORRECTION] Texans FC Red from Houston, coached by Carl Fleming, won the Dallas Cup U-16 crown last weekend, beating the Rampage Blue (Calif.), 2-0, in the final and the Lonestars Red (Texas), 3-1, in the semis. Led by Marcos "Junior" Escobar‘s eight goals, Fleming’s team scored 14 times in its six games en route to the title.
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Picking Donovan is a chance lost
Of the 18 players named to the U.S. roster to face Poland Wednesday in Krakow, perhaps the most obvious selection is the one who should have been omitted: Landon Donovan. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney explains.
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USA gathers troops for Euro test
[ROSTER] Coach Bob Bradley has named an 18-man roster for Wednesday’s friendly at Poland that is comprised of 15 European-based players and three MLS players.
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New-ish arrivals pace Chivas USA win
[MLS] Four different players scored for Chivas USA in their preseason finale, a 4-1 triumph over Honduran club Real Espana at Cal State Fullerton Saturday, and all four, in a way, were newcomers.
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Nowak’s boys slip in final
As soon as the euphoria of qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games began to subside late Thursday began the speculation of which over-age players head coach Peter Nowak and U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley might select. A 1-0 overtime loss to Honduras in the final on Sunday offered opportunities.
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REPORT CARD: Gaven shines in loss
[USA-HONDURAS GRADES] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. U-23 players in their 1-0 loss to Honduras in Olympic qualifying on Sunday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“I don’t interfere in politics because I know nothing about it. … It is one thing to talk about a bullfight but another thing to be in the arena facing the bull.”
— South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira tells the nation’s politicians to stop interferring with his attempts to get the struggling team on track as it prepares for the 2010 World Cup, which South Africa is hosting. (AFP)
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Hicks watches Liverpool win first Super Group
[DALLAS CUP] In the hometown of its controversial co-owner Tom Hicks, Liverpool won the Super Group at the 2008 Dallas Cup with a 3-0 win over Tigres of Monterrey, Mexico, in the final. Hicks drove directly to the final at Pizza Hut Park Sunday after returning from a family trip. Liverpool became only the third English team to win the Super Group after West Ham United and Nottingham Forest. Tigres (U-17) and Guadalajara (U-14) were the other foreign teams to take home championships at the Dallas Cup. American champions were the Houston Dynamo (U-19), Houston Texans Red (U-16), Sockers FC (U-15) and FC Barcelona USA (U-13). For all the semifinal and final results …
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Manchester United breaks open EPL race
[WINNERS & LOSERS] Manchester United extended its lead in the English Premier League to four points with 3-0 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford while Arsenal’s title hopes are fading after it fell to Chelsea, 2-1, in the second half of the Easter Sunday Grand Slam in the English Premier League. Spanish teenager Bojan Krkic was instrumental in keeping Barcelona very much alive in Spain’s La Liga race, while AC Milan’s 18-year-old Brazilian Alexandre Pato kept up his torrid pace.
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Michael Bradley scores twice
[AMERICANS ABROAD/VIDEO] Michael Bradley struck twice for Dutch Eredivisie club Heerenveen in its 4-3 win over Roda JC. The 20-year-old now has 15 league goals this season, putting him in a tie for fourth among the Eredivisie’s leading scorers.
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Four Americans see action in Fulham loss
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Fulham fell, 2-0, to Newcastle, which hadn’t won in its last 13 EPL games. For Fulham, in second-to-last place and four points in the relegation zone, Kasey Keller started in goal, forward Brian McBride played the first 66 minutes before being replaced by Clint Dempsey, and Eddie Johnson went the full 90 upfront. There was better news for Reading.
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International Soccer Weekend TV Schedule
Easter Sunday features two big matches in England: Chelsea-Arsenal and Manchester United-Liverpool. In Italy, leader Inter Milan hosts Juventus on Saturday. For televised weekend international action …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“I think Freddy is starting to realize not only his potential, but starting to see the things that we’ve been talking about for the last three or four years. … I did understand from the beginning that for a young man like Freddy at that time it was a little difficult for him to understand the bigger picture. I think he’s started to believe not only what I’ve been saying; he’s started to believe in his ability to change the game.”
— U.S. U-23 coach Peter Nowak on Freddy Adu, who scored twice in the USA’s 3-0 win over Canada that qualifed the USA for the 2008 Olympic Games. Nowak was Adu’s coach at D.C. United during Adu’s first three seasons of pro ball.
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USA hits right notes in Nashville for Beijing Ticket
Duly, but certainly not dully, did the U.S. under-23 team qualify for the 2008 Olympics Thursday night in Nashville, the City of Music, by composing and playing a tune its rivals appreciated but never matched in tempo or timbre. Every member joined in to play melodic passages, and with a pair of Freddy Adu free kicks and a stirring, sweeping movement that Sasha Kljestan ended with a sharp, stinging arpeggio did the USA beat Canada, 3-0, to confirm its August reservation in China.
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REPORT CARD: Adu is head of class
[USA-CANADA GRADES] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. U-23 players in their 3-0 win over Canada in Olympic qualifying on Thursday.
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Crossing the line – or not
[REF WATCH] Two weeks after FIFA scrapped further experimentation with goal-line technology — President Sepp Blatter claiming it couldn’t find an accurate method of checking whether a ball crosses the goal line — Eintracht Frankfurt beat Energie Cottbus with a goal that TV replays appeared to show shouldn’t have been awarded.
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MLS offers Direct Kick Package again
[TV] The MLS Direct Kick Television Package, available on DIRECTV and DISH Network and digital cable provider iN DEMAND Networks, will offer up to 115 games for $79.