Category: Soccer America Daily

[ROSTER] Coach Peter Nowak has called in 23 players for the second training camp of the U-23 men’s national team that will aim to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games, when the team can add three wild-card (over-23) players. The training camp takes Jan. 26 – Feb. 2 in at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla.

The English FA Cup moves into the fourth round. The top matchup features Manchester United against Tottenham on Sunday. In Spain, leader Real Madrid hosts third-place Villarreal with Italian-American Giuseppe Rossi on Sunday. For all the weekend international action …

For all the team-by-team offseason player moves …

Two players of which more has been expected in their careers are crossing paths in and out of MLS.
Striker Eddie Johnson‘s move to English Premier League club Fulham reached fruition Wednesday just as news reports out of South America quoted Argentine midfielder Marcelo Gallardo saying he’s joining D.C. United.

D.C. United’s signing spree continued when it signed Colombian defender Gonzalo Martinez from Millonarios. American-born Ian Joy left German third division club St. Pauli and signed with Real Salt Lake. For all the team-by-team MLS offseason player moves …

Miami’s Varela High School now holds the top spot outright in the NSCAA/adidas High School Winter Rankings for boys, while Florida’s American Heritage (27-0-0) remained No. 1 in the girls rankings. For the boys and girls rankings ..

[AFRICAN NATIONS CUP] Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, whose future with World Cup 2010 host South Africa appears dependent on his team’s performance at the African Nations Cup, was pleased after the Bafana Bafana managed to salvage a 1-1 tie with Angola in their opening game on Wednesday.

[USL-1] Stoke City became the latest British club to seek entry in the U.S. market when its minority owner, Phil Rawlins, announced plans to launch a USL-1 team next year in Austin, Texas, and affiliate it with the English League Championship club.

[ENGLAND] American Tim Howard‘s bid to play at Wembley Stadium for the first time ended Wednesday when Everton fell to short-handed Chelsea, 1-0, in the second leg of their English League Cup semifinal series.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] U.S. international Michael Bradley scored in Heerenveen’s 5-1 win over VVV on Wednesday, making it the third straight game in which that he has scored since the resumption of play in the Dutch Eredivisie. Bradley, whose stock has risen sharply on the European transfer market, set a season record for goals by an American-bred and -born player in a European first division.

[AFRICAN NATIONS CUP] Defending champion Egypt easily disposed of Cameroon, 4-2, in their much-anticipated showdown Tuesday at the African Nations Cup.

D.C. United completed a deal for Argentine forward Franco Niell, who was acquired on a one-year loan from Argentinos Junior on Tuesday. For all the team-by-team MLS offseason player moves …

Arsenal FC’s Under-17/18 Academy team opened its Development Academy campaign with a 3-0 victory over the Irvine Strikers on Saturday. Michael Vega, Trenton Titus and Eddie Valencia scored for Arsenal, which returns to action the week after next when it hosts visiting Washington Premier and FC Portland. For all the Development Academy results and goal scorers …

[EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES] Soccer America provides the latest on employment opportunities for soccer-related positions: college coaching opportunities, positions in the pros, youth soccer, the soccer industry, even television.

Three years after goalkeeper Adin Brown played out his MLS contract and signed with Norwegian club Aalesund, he’s about to be joined by another ex-Rev. Pat Noonan, who started and earned an assist in the 2-0 USA win over Sweden Saturday at Home Depot Center, is joining Aalesund on a free transfer. The Revs elected not to pick up the option on his MLS contract, hoping it could sign him for a lower salary than the $225,000 he earned last season.

[MAKING A LIST] Pat Noonan is the third MLS player and fourth American to sign with a Norwegian club in the offseason. There are 10 Americans on the rosters of Norwegian pro clubs — five of them U.S. internationals.

[ENGLAND] Only four months into his job as Tottenham manager, Spaniard Juande Ramos is the toast of White Heart Lane. Spurs snapped a nine-year run of 21 games without a victory over archrival Arsenal in grand style on Tuesday when it crushed the Gunners, 5-1, to win their English League Cup series, 6-2, on aggregate. Arsenal came so unglued at the end that Togolese star Emmanuel Adebayor and Dane Nicklas Bendtner became involved in an altercation

[WORLD CUP WATCH] Led by a core of American pros and collegians, Puerto Rico won back-to-back games for the first time in more than a decide when the Boricuas swept a pair of friendlies at Bermuda.

[AFRICAN NATIONS CUP/VIDEO] Dribbling seems to be a lost art these days, but Salomon Kalou put on an extraordinary display of magic on the ball to score the only goal in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 win over Nigeria in a battle of giants Monday at the African Nations Cup in Sekondi

[ENGLAND WATCH] Who will fall first? Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez? Or its despised American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett?