“He was excellent. No one’s more euphoric than Mr. Guzan. His was a fabulous, fantastic performance. He’s got everything and he’s as brave as they come. [Brad] Friedel has been terrific for us but Guzan was immense tonight. I can’t remember the last time a keeper saved four penalties but, by the end, I was almost expecting him to save them.”
— Aston Villa coach Martin O’Neill on 25-year-old American goalkeeper Brad Guzan after an English League Cup win over Sunderland. (The Guardian)
[UNDER-17 WORLD CUP] Gifted a man advantage after 63 seconds and a goal after four minutes, the USA could not have asked for a better start to their opening Group E game at the Under-17 World Cup in Kano, Nigeria, but some suspect defending allowed the Spaniards to rally for a pair of first-half goals and hold on for a 2-1 win.
[WORLD CUP 2010 COUNTDOWN] The U.S. national team will face Slovakia for the first time when they meet Nov. 14 in Bratislava. The match comes four days before it faces Denmark in Aarhus. The two games will give national team coach Bob Bradley a chance to look at European-based players against World Cup 2010 finalists.
[USA-SPAIN REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy rates the U.S. players in Monday’s 2-1 loss to Spain at the Under-17 World Cup.
“We have to determine whether we believe, for the immediate long term, if Tommy is the guy to lead the team. … Tommy’s year was like everybody else’s year: Some good things and some things that weren’t as good. He is still a fairly young coach, and he did some things very well and made some mistakes.”
— D.C. United president Kevin Payne, who said that the club will decide within a month whether to retain head coach Tom Soehn, who has failed to guide the club to the MLS playoffs the past two seasons. (Washington Post)
[MLS] The 2009 regular-season averaged 2.54 goals per game – the lowest in MLS’s 14-year history and a significant drop from last season’s scoring average. For a season-by-season history of MLS scoring averages and the team-by-team rankings from 2009. …
[MLS] Quick turnarounds are nothing new to the Houston Dynamo. In the case of MLS, success begats more chances to succeed, which means more games compressed into a shorter time frame. Yet being compelled to play in the madhouse known as Qwest Field just a few days after toughing out a 3-2 road win against Chivas USA might even stretch the battle-hardened Dynamo, which played nearly 50 domestic and international games last year and has incurred another heavy load this season.
[COLLEGE] Freshman Carlos Alvarez, who assisted on two goals in each of a pair of Connecticut road wins over Yale (2-0) and Seton Hall (3-1), is the Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week for games played Oct. 19-25. For the Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week …
[COLLEGE] For the third time this year, Portland sophomore Danielle Foxhoven is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week, earning the honor for games played Oct. 19-25 thanks to two-goal and four-goal performances in WCC wins for the No. 2-ranked Pilots. For the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week …
Of the five teams contending for a playoff berth and playing on the road over the weekend, only New England won, 1-0, at Columbus, and the Revs were the only one of them to advance. For all the weekend results, final standings and leading scorers …
Spanish leader Barcelona had perhaps its best performance of the season in a 6-1 win over Real Zaragoza. Inter Milan got a scare but beat Catania, 2-1, to retain its lead in Italy’s Serie A. Bordeaux and surprise Monaco leapfrogged over Lyon at the top in France. Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg remained tied for first place in Germany’s Bundesliga. In Portugal, leader Braga suffered its first blemish after seven wins. For the weekend results and current standings …
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey‘s first goal of the season earned Fulham a 2-2 tie with Manchester City while Michael Bradley came close to scoring in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s derby game.
[UNDER-17 WORLD CUP] Four months after the USA and Spain met in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa, they square off again in Africa, this time at the Under-17 World Cup in Kano, Nigeria (TV: ESPNU and Galavision, live, 2 pm ET). Coach Wilmer Cabrera has assembled one of the most highly rated U.S. U-17 national teams ever, but it will face a difficult test on Monday against Spain, Europe’s greatest producer of youth talent over the last decade.
[COLLEGE] Wake Forest and North Carolina moved into second and third place, respectively, behind No. 1 Akron in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25. UCLA, which fell to Stanford on Sunday, dropped from No. 2 to No. 4. For the complete Top 25 rankings …
“To come here and lose 5-0 when we know everything was on the line, our whole season, it’s very disappointing. It’s hard to swallow.”
— Toronto FC general manager Mo Johnston after a rout to the New York Red Bulls, MLS’s worst team of 2009, ended the Toronto’s hopes of reaching the playoffs for the first time in its three-year history. (Toronto Star)
[COLLEGE] Thanks to its 3-2 win over North Carolina, Florida State moved into third place in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25. Stanford and Portland remained 1-2. For the complete Top 25 rankings …
[MLS] The playoffs start Thursday when Seattle hosts Houston, and continue Saturday with Columbus traveling to Real Salt Lake and Chicago heading to New England. Chivas USA and Los Angeles kick off their two-game Home Depot Center derby Sunday. Forget the final standings. Here’s an initial, gut-reactive ranking of the eight MLS playoff qualifiers and their relative chances of winning the title. …
2009 MLS PLAYOFFS:
Television Schedule
UNDER-17 WORLD CUP:
Short-handed Spain edges USA
U.S. Player Ratings
[MLS] 2009 expansion club Seattle drew 33,108 fans to its final regular-season game, a 2-1 win over FC Dallas, and ends the season with a league record 30,943 home attendance average. For a history of attendance leaders and this season’s team-by-team averages. …
[ENGLAND] Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez‘s job appears safe for now following the Reds’ 2-0 win over defending champion Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday that ended a four-game losing streak in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
[MLS] FC Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham‘s 17 regular-season goals make him this season’s top scorer, and he joins Taylor Twellman, Carlos Ruiz, Stern John and Roy Lassiter as two-time MLS scoring champs. For 2009’s top scorers and a history of the league’s top scorers. …
[MLS] The 2009 MLS playoff race went down to the final game, and the New England Revolution claimed the eighth and final berth in the playoffs with a 1-0 at Columbus on Jeff Larentowicz‘s free kick late in the second half. The win sent the Revs to the playoffs for the eighth straight year. For more on the final weekend of play and the playoff pairings …
WEEKEND ACTION:
Men’s College Report
Women’s College Report
“I would have wished the situation would not have happened. We had 2,500 fans with us and we were told we could not go over (to thank them). The police actually told us they would report us to UEFA and I feel that is showing disrespect. A fine feeling and fine touch was missing there.”
— Bruno Labbadia, the coach of Hamburg SV, whose players staged a sit-down protest on Glasgow Celtic’s field after security forces blocked them from celebrating near their fans after a 1-0 Europa League win. Several of HSV’s players sat down near the corner flag before eventually leaving for the tunnel after approached by police. (Reuters)
[OFF THE POST] SMU’s freshman defender Ryan Rosenbaum scored the first goal of his college career with a 95-yard shot in the Mustangs’ 3-2 win over Tulsa.
[COLLEGE] No. 2 UCLA fell at No. 21 Stanford, 2-0, for its first loss in 11 games. Bobby Warshaw and Evan Morgan won the game with second-half goals. Despite having its shutout streak snapped at 800 minutes, No. 6 Connecticut continued its unbeaten run with a 3-1 win at Big East rival Seton Hall. Indiana’s troubles continued when the . No. 25 Hoosiers fell to 7-7-1 with a 2-0 loss at No. 12 Northwestern. San Diego State knocked off its second Pac-10 rival in three days when it won, 2-0, at No. 25 California. For the Sunday action …
[COLLEGE] No. 3 North Carolina dropped back-to-back games for only the sixth time in its history when it fell at Miami (Fla.), 1-0, on Beverly Goebel‘s unassisted goal with less than 10 minutes to play. Danielle Foxhoven had four goals for the second time this season and Halley Kreminski added the final three goals for No. 2 Portland in an 8-0 win over San Francisco. For the Sunday Top 25 action …
