Category: Soccer America Daily

[ENGLAND] Big-spending Manchester City’s perfect start to the 2009-10 Premier League season was marred by the outrageous behavior of one of its biggest signings, Emmanuel Adebayor, in City’s 4-2 win over Arsenal, his former club. The Togolese star surely faces a suspension, which could not come at a worst time with City’s three other stars up front all injured …

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] For the second time this season, FC Dallas scored six goals in one game, this time downing Los Angeles at the Home Depot Center. Defending Columbus Crew is the league’s best after a 2-1 win over Houston. For highlights of the weekend’s MLS action …

[MLS] The effect of signing international midfielder Julian De Guzman as its first Designated Player may not take full effect until next year, but Toronto FC has already put another piece into play for 2010. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLS&E), the team’s primary investor, has received approval from the board of governors of Exhibition Place, site of BMO Field, to install a grass playing surface in time for next season.

[COLLEGE] North Carolina, Stanford and Portland are again 1-2-3 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25. The other unbeaten and untied teams in the Top 25 are No. 4 Boston College, No. 9 Maryland and No. 12 South Carolina. Unranked Santa Clara moved up to No. 10 with wins over Notre Dame and Purdue. For this week’s complete Soccer America Top 25 rankings …

[ENGLAND] There was good news and bad news for David Beckham following England’s 5-1 win over Croatia that qualified it for the 2010 World Cup. The strong play of Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon on the right side of midfield relegated him to the bench, but Coach Fabio Capello expressed confidence that the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder would be in England’s 23-player squad for South Africa.

[U.S. SOCCER] After Mexico beat the USA, 2-1, at Azteca Stadium last month, Landon Donovan grumbled about Israel Castro‘s equalizer, a searing strike from well outside the penalty area that tied the game in the 19th minute.

WEEKEND UPDATES …
College Men: Weekend Scoreboard
College Women: Weekend Scoreboard

[MLS PREDICTIONS] San Jose takes the week off as the other 14 teams resume regular service. Conference leaders Columbus and Houston meet on Sunday, the same day Chivas USA and New England – tied with 33 points and both with eight games to play – square off at Home Depot Center. The Saturday slate pairs Toronto and Colorado, which played last week with the Rapids winning, and pits D.C. United against Seattle in a rematch of the U.S. Open Cup final. For all of Soccer America’s predictions, as well as TV viewing information, and to see how Ridge Mahoney fared so far this season …

[OFF THE POST] In the wake of the Chinese Super League observing FIFA’s international Fair Play Day last weekend, seven players and officials were suspended and fined for behavior that included spitting at a ref, throwing a shoe at a ref, and brawling.

[EUROPEAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP] Three-time World Player of the Year Birgit Prinz waited until the final of the European Women’s Championship to break out of her slump, scoring her first two goals of the tournament to lead Germany to a 6-2 win England in Thursday’s final. The European title was the fifth in a row and seventh in the last eight tournaments for Germany.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] The Ochoa family of Riverside, Calif., holds the distinction of being the first family to have three brothers playing abroad at the same time — in three different countries no less.

England, Spain and Paraguay qualified for the 2010 World Cup with wins on Wednesday. Denmark, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland all are in good shape, holding leads of three points or more in their European groups with two games to play. Bahrain won the Asian playoff and will face New Zealand for a berth in the World Cup finals. Wednesday’s big loser was Argentina, which fell into fifth place with a 1-0 loss at Paraguay and is in danger of missing out on direct qualification to the World Cup. For all Wednesday’s results and the current standings …

[WORLD CUP QUALIFYING] The USA defeated Trinidad & Tobago, 1-0, on Ricardo Clark‘s goal in the 62nd minute. The win moves the Americans closer to their goal of playing in the World Cup for the sixth straight time. It clinched no worse than fourth place in the Hexagonal and a berth in the Concacaf-South America playoff. With two games to play, the Americans are now in first place, one point ahead of Mexico, three ahead of Honduras and four ahead of Costa Rica, which lost at El Salvador, 1-0, on a last-minute goal.

YOUTH SOCCER REPORTER

[U.S. U-17s] The new group of 40 players in the U.S. U-17 national team’s residency program in Bradenton, Fla., includes 24 players born in 1992 and 1993 who are preparing for the U-17 World Cup (Oct. 24-Nov. 16 in Nigeria) and 16 born in 1994, who are also eligible for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. No longer is residency are Joseph-Claude Gyau and Charles Renken, who signed with German Bundesliga club Hoffenheim.

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Wednesday’s Hexagonal results could not have been more favorable to the USA and its World Cup 2010 hopes. They give it multiple ways to close the deal next month, but they do pose a quandary for Coach Bob Bradley. Does he go for a win against Honduras on Oct. 10 in San Pedro Sula or save key players for the game four days later against Costa Rica in Washington when a win or tie will clinch a berth in the World Cup finals.

[COLLEGE]. Clemson continued to struggle as the winless Tigers had to settle for a 1-1 tie at home with Charlotte. For all of Wednesday’s results and goal scorers and weekend Top 25 schedules …

[TRINIDAD & TOBAGO-USA REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players in their 1-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday in Port of Spain.

[COLLEGE] No. 18 Maryland improved to 6-0-0 with a 1-0 win over American. In the only other game involving a Top 25 team, UC Santa Barbara knocked off No. 22 William & Mary, 2-0, in Williamsburg. For all the Wednesday results and the weekend Top 25 matches …

[U.S SOCCER] The USA defeated Trinidad & Tobago, 1-0, on Ricardo Clark‘s goal in the 62nd minute. Clark, whose father was born in Trinidad and met his wife in Guyana, scored from 25 yards after being fed by Landon Donovan.

[MLS] Count Kansas City among the MLS teams that in October may be lamenting the squandering of opportunities as other teams prepare for the playoffs. The Wizards carried much of the play Wednesday against D.C. United at RFK Stadium but were not only shut out, but also beaten, 1-0, by a Luciano Emilio goal to quell the momentum they’d created by thrashing New England, 4-2, last weekend.

WEDNESDAY MLS PREDICTION
D.C. UNITED (7-5-12) vs. KANSAS CITY (6-10-6), 7:30 p.m., Direct Kick
A run of five straight home games won’t mean much if D.C. doesn’t get three points in this one, which won’t be easy, since defenders Marc Burch (ankle surgery) and Dejan Jakovic (sports-hernia surgery) are both out two to three weeks, and the Wizards’ somnolent attack awoke last weekend to drill four past the Revs in a 4-2 win while playing a man up for more than an hour.

[WORLD CUP QUALIFYING] In past Hexagonals, the USA has qualified for the World Cup as early as the seventh game in the 10-match campaign, or by the eighth game on other occasions. No such guarantee is available this time around. Even a victory against Trinidad & Tobago Wednesday in Port of Spain (kickoff at 7 p.m. ET, ESPN Classic, Telefutura) in Game 8 will assure only fourth place …

LINEUPS:
USA — Howard, Spector, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Bornstein, Clark, Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Altidore, Davies.
Trin. & Tobago — Ince, Edwards, Abu Bakr, Lawrence, Samuel, Tinto, Leon, Noel, Spann, Glenn, Jones.

WEDNESDAY’S World Cup Qualifying Results

[MLS] A lackluster 1-0 loss to Colorado last weekend gave credence to the belief that Toronto FC can’t play a pat hand and reach the MLS playoffs this season for the first time. Changes are in the works. The Toronto Globe and Mail is reporting that stalled negotiations with midfielder Julian De Guzman, who is out of contract and has yet to find a new club, have been revived and a deal could be announced sometime this week. He would take the roster spot of striker Danny Dichio, who has been bothered by injuries the past two seasons and is making his retirement from the club official at a press conference Wednesday.