Category: Soccer America Daily

Teams from U.S. Soccer’s residency program in Bradenton, Fla., won all four games against area opponents in U-17/18 nd U-15/16 action over the weekend. For all the U.S. Soccer Development Academy results and goal scorers …

UEFA Champions League play continues Wednesday with four more games. For all the TV coverage of the midweek action …

Nine MLS teams passed on players in Wednesday’s Waiver Draft before D.C. United picked up the rights to Jeff Curtin. Taken later were Brandon Prideaux (Chicago Fire) and Kyle Brown (Houston Dynamo). For all the team-by-team offseason player moves …

[NAMES & NUMBERS] Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says Argentine Carlos Tevez reminds him of Frenchman Eric Cantona, the King of Old Trafford during his reign at Manchester United in the 1990s. Tevez has already played a key role in the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 series between United and Lyon that concludes on Tuesday. Young attackers Robin van Persie and Kazim Kazim could play key roles for Arsenal and Fenerbahce, respectively, on the road. The team with the longest odds is Scottish champion Celtic, which hopes to end a long drought with a victory at Barcelona.

ESPN2 will have live coverage of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League match between AC Milan and Arsenal. For all the TV coverage of the midweek action …

[WINNERS & LOSERS] Real Madrid got a boost from Sergio Aguero of neighboring Atletico Madrid in Spain’s La Liga race when the Argentine teenager scored twice and set up two other two goals to lead Atletico Madrid past Barcelona, 4-2. The English Premier League race tightened when Arsenal was held to a 1-1 tie by Aston Villa at home. The race also tightened in Italy, where Inter Milan lost for the first time this season in Serie A.

[IRAN] First, Iran began 2010 World Cup qualifying without a national team coach. Now, two coaches have been reported to have been selected to Iran in its fight to qualifying for the World Cup finals for the fourth time. Iranian-American Afshin Ghotbi appeared to have landed the job, but reports out of Tehran on Sunday suggested that former Iran star Ali Daei had been picked to lead Team Melli.

[AMERICANS IN GERMANY] In December, Hansa Rostock coach Frank Pagelsdorf said Heath Pearce would never play for him again because of a dispute related to Pearce’s late arrival from winter vacation. But on Saturday, Pearce was needed as a halftime sub when defender Dexter Langen left the stadium to be with his wife for the birth of their child.

[YOUTH] Four U.S. Youth Soccer regional ODP teams are participating this week in an international festival in Barcelona, Spain. The 1992 boys went 2-2 against Catalan teams on Tuesday’s opening day. Region I and Region III beat Sanchez Llibre (3-1) and Cornella (3-0), while Region II lost to Espanyol (2-0) and Region IV fell to CF Damm (4-2). For complete rosters …

Another major market, another sports-mad city, another enticing stadium proposal, and another well-heeled ownership group add up to another MLS expansion team. And yet another coup, at least on paper. The 14th and 15th teams haven’t played a game yet, but already MLS has announced team No. 16 will be Philadelphia, to begin play in 2010. The announcement of the entry marks a return of pro soccer to Philadelphia 28 years after the NASL Fury followed the Atoms and NPSL Spartans into oblivion.

February is a time for MLS teams to get fit and get acquainted. Aside from a few exceptions, the real work starts in March. Scrimmages against college teams and the U.S. under-17s give way to more rigorous tests against MLS foes and foreign opponents. More than half of the MLS teams are headed overseas this month. Broken down by destination, here are the itineraries for the 14 MLS teams in early March.