Freddy Adu scored one goal and set up another to lead the U.S. under-20 national team to a 2-1 win over Chile Saturday at Giants Stadium in the team’s final international friendly before leaving for the Under-20 World Cup, which starts Saturday in Canada. Adu scored the opening goal in the 34th minute off a pass from Josmer Altidore and then feed Robbie Rogers in the second half to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead. Alexis Sanchez scored for Chile from the penalty spot three minutes after Rogers put the USA two goals up.
Category: Soccer America Daily
U.S. women knock off Brazil with early Lilly and Wambach goals
The U.S. women’s national team got early goals from Kristine Lilly — the 123rd of her career coming after just 58 seconds — and Abby Wambach — the 74th of her international career on a glancing header off Cat Whitehill‘s free kick — to beat Brazil, 2-0, in the first meeting between the teams since the 2004 Olympic gold-medal game that the USA won.
Cal South cleans up at Region IV finals
[REGION IV YOUTH CHAMPIONS] Arsenal FC, winner of three straight national championships in its age group, won its fourth straight US Youth Soccer Region IV Championship by beating Colorado Rush Nike, 2-0, in Sunday’s U-18 boys final. Two other former national champions will return to the US Youth Soccer National Championships July 24-29 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas: U-16 boys Real So Cal and the U-17 girls Eagles. Cal South won 10 titles. FC Slammers won two girls titles and lost to the Eagles on penalties in the U-17 girls division. Arizona power Sereno White won one boys and one girls title. A new addition to the US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships is the first girls team from Nevada to ever win a regional championship, the U-12 Neusport FC Green. For results and goalscorers of the Region IV finals …
Thierry Henry on move to Barcelona: ‘It’s now or never for me’
Thierry Henry arrived at FC Barcelona on Sunday to be introduced as the Spanish club’s new signing after it agreed to pay Arsenal $32 million for the 29-year-old France striker. “Nothing has been signed yet but both sides reached an agreement on Friday,” Henry told French sports newspaper L’Equipe on Saturday. “I have chosen Barcelona for the soccer they play, for their history and their stadium.” For more behind Henry’s shock decision to leave Arsenal a year after he signed a four-year contract extension …
Vancouver reclaims first place in USL-1
[USL RESULTS] The defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps regained first place in the USL First Division with a 1-0 win at Miami and 0-0 tie at Puerto Rico. Minnesota moved out of last place Sunday with a 1-0 win over California. In the USL-2, Cleveland fell for the first time when it lost at first-place Charlotte, 1-0, on Sunday. Richmond (8-0-2) is the lone unbeaten team left in the USL-2. For complete USL results and goalscorers …
Resilient Americans prevail in a Superclasico
Add a comeback 2-1 win against its archrival and another Gold Cup title to the USA ledger. Add a squandered 1-0 halftime lead to Mexico’s record of futility north of the border. Add another feather to the headdress of Bob Bradley, whose unbeaten record as U.S. head coach is 10-0-1 heading into the Copa America. Add Benny Feilhaber’s searing winner to the list of best U.S. goals, and the landmark occasion of Landon Donovan tying Eric Wynalda atop the all-time goalscoring list at 34. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reports from Chicago …
USA REPORT CARD: Howard and Feilhaber earn top marks
Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 2-1 Gold Cup final win over Mexico …
Real Salt Lake finally wins
[WEEKEND WRAP]. It took 12 games, but Real Salt Lake finally won its first game of the season, victimizing D.C. United. Andy Dorman’s two goals helped New England thump Toronto FC to move the Revs into first place in the East. Young Colombia Juan Toja was again the hero in a win for FC Dallas, which downed struggling Colorado. Los Angeles fell to Columbus despite playing a man up for an hour in a game that saw each team fail from the penalty spot. Houston eked past Kansas City, shut out for the first time this season.
USA sends young squad to Copa America
[ROSTER] The USA, participating as a guest team in the Copa America, the South American championship, for the first time since finishing fourth in 1995, is sending a young, inexperienced squad to Venezuela, where it opens on Thursday against Argentina. Sixteen players on the 22-man squad have 10 caps or fewer and 14 are under age 25. Uncapped players on the roster are Herculez Gomez, Drew Moor and Marvell Wynne. For the roster …
MLS on TV this Weekend
Saturday: New England-Toronto FC 7:30 pm ET (Direct Kick), Colorado-FC Dallas 9 pm ET (Direct Kick), Real Salt Lake-D.C. United 9:30 pm ET (Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports en Espanol), Los Angeles-Columbus (live), 10:30 pm ET (Direct Kick, Hdnet); Sunday: Kansas City-Houston 5 pm ET (Telefutura).
FIFA settles lawsuit with MasterCard for $90 million
FIFA and MasterCard settled the latter’s lawsuit, paving the way for FIFA to go ahead with its sponsorship agreement with MasterCard rival Visa International. MasterCard, which had sponsored the World Cup for 16 years, will drop its sponsorship of the next two World Cups under a $90 million settlement with FIFA announced on Thursday. FIFA will pay $87.5 million by June 30 and $2.5 million by Sept. 30.
Cal South teams dominate at Region IV youth championships
[REGION IV QUARTERFINALS] Cal South led all state associations with 27 teams represented in the quarterfinals of the US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships that will be played Friday in Las Vegas. The boys teams include the U-18 Arsenal FC, U-16 Real So Cal and U-15 Valley United Blast, all defending national champions in their age groups. Arizona and Colorado are next with 14 teams apiece in the quarterfinals. Arizona’s Sereno White and Real Colorado National have eight and seven teams, respectively, in the final eight of the 16 boys and girls divisions. For complete quarterfinal pairings …
Riquelme heads Argentina’s Copa America roster
[COPA AMERICA COUNTDOWN] Less than a year after leaving the Argentina national team, midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme is back. Riquelme, who led Boca Juniors to the 2007 Libertadores Cup title, has been included in Argentina’s squad for the Copa America, where it opens against the USA next Thursday. Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, who had been recalled by Coach Alfio Basile following an absence of more than two years, was named to the Copa America roster. Also in the Copa squad is veteran Javier Zanetti, who also missed the 2006 World Cup. For more on Argentina and its roster …
U.S. U-17s finish third in group at pre-World Cup tournament
The USA’s under-17 boys national team finished third in its group at an eight-team international team in South Korea when it beat New Zealand, 1-0, Thursday on a goal by Brek Shea. The Americans had lost their first two games to Japan (1-0 on a goal in the 90th minute) and Nigeria (2-1). For the USA’s game summaries …
2007 Gold Cup Television Schedule
The USA and Mexico meet in the final of the Gold Cup on Sunday. The game will be shown live at 3 pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel and Univision …
Galaxy’s Yallop isn’t done wheeling and dealing
L.A. Galaxy coach Frank Yallop isn’t done revamping his roster. Los Angeles acquired veteran midfielder Chris Klein from Real Salt Lake in exchange for rookie forward Robbie Findley and U-20 midfielder/defender Nathan Sturgis and signed 33-year-old Honduran international Carlos Pavon, and Yallop is discussing options for Santino Quaranta with several clubs.
Wolff makes pitch for Quakes to play in 2008 MLS season
Oakland A’s co-owner Lewis Wolff visited the MLS league headquarters this week along with several staff members of Earthquakes LLC to make his pitch to start play next season, with stadium arrangements to be decided. Wolff is discussing with the City of San Jose a two-pronged proposal. He is seeking city approval to re-zone of large parcel of land from industrial use to residential, on which would be built housing. Those residential developments would supply funds that would be used to build a stadium on city-owned land south of the San Jose International Airport.
Davis powers Houston past Chivas USA with second-half hat trick
The hat tricks keep on coming! Brad Davis scored three goals in the second half for his first career hat trick to lead the Houston Dynamo past Chivas USA, 4-0, Thursday night at Robertson Stadium. Both teams went into the game with three-game winning streaks, but the Dynamo prevailed to move ahead of Chivas into second place in the Western Conference, three points behind leader FC Dallas, which has played two more games.
USA-Mexico, Gold Cup History
The USA and Mexico have only met in the Gold Cup three times. The USA prevailed in their meeting in the semifinals of the first Gold Cup in 1991, and Mexico won in the final of the 1993 and 1998 Gold Cups. Here’s a look at the three meetings …
What They’re Saying
"We did things to put ourselves in that position, whether it was a bad call or not. We dug ourselves a hole."
— Canada goalie Pat Onstad takes it easy on the linesman who nullified Canada’s last-minute goal in the 2-1 loss to the USA. But Canadian midfielder Dwayne De Rosario said, "It was definitely a goal. No question." (Houston Chronicle)
USA ousts Canada, welcomes Mexico
This U.S. team insists on winning dangerously, but it does keep winning. Whether by external forces or by its own design the USA is finishing matches in the bunker, not in the driver’s seat. Not for the first time in this Gold Cup did the Americans score early, assume control, and then scramble frantically to preserve a victory that seemed be a formality. From Chicago, Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reports on the 2-1 semifinal win over Canada, which sets up a U.S. Gold Cup final clash with archrival Mexico …
USA REPORT CARD: Donovan, Dempsey & Beasley stand out
Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 2-1 Gold Cup semifinal win over Canada.
Streaking MLS teams clash in Thursday night action
[TV PREVIEW] Houston and Chivas USA, both in the midst of three-game winning streaks, clash in ESPN2’s Thursday Night MLS game. Houston coach Dominic Kinnear figured he’d lose midfielders Dwayne DeRosario (Canada) and Ricardo Clark (USA) and forward Brian Ching (USA) during the Gold Cup, but he wasn’t expecting the emergency call-up of keeper Pat Onstad to the Canadian team.
2007 Gold Cup Television Schedule
The Gold Cup moves into the semifinals with two games on Thursday. The USA meets Canada at 7 pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura followed by Mexico against surprise Guadeloupe on TeleFutura at 10 om ET …
Crew breaks out of slump with win over Kansas City
The Columbus Crew picked up its first MLS win in almost two months Wednesday night when it beat the Kansas City Wizards, 2-1, for only the club’s second win of the season. Eddie Gaven and Stefani Miglioranzi scored goals — the first of the season for both players — to break a 0-0 deadlock in the second half.
