The U.S. U-20s are sure making its hard for Coach Thomas Rongen to make his final selections for the Under-20 World Cup, which begins later this month. With a lineup featuring several players on the bubble, the USA crushed Canada, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at Ottawa’s Frank Clair Stadium, a U-20 World Cup venue. Andre Akpan, Preston Zimmerman, Johann Smith and Sal Zizzo all scored for the USA, which concludes its two-game trip to Canada with a rematch Wednesday in Kingston.
Category: Soccer America Daily
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
England welcomes back Beckham and Owen for Brazil friendly
[TV PREVIEW] David Beckham will play for England for the first time since being dropped nearly a year ago by Coach Steve McClaren on Friday when England faces Brazil in a friendly game at Wembley Stadium. Some experts will argue that more important than the return of Beckham is the comeback of Michael Owen, who is set to start for England for the first time since suffering a knee injury at the 2006 World Cup that sidelined him for most of the EPL season.
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U.S. Club Soccer regional champions crowned
[U.S. CLUB SOCCER CHAMPIONS] Regional champions were crowned in U.S. Club Soccer’s boys and girls U-12-U-17 age groups on Memorial Day in LaGrangeville, N.Y. and Jacksonville, Fla., respectively. For a complete list of the winners …
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Powers limp into key Euro 2008 qualifiers
[TV PREVIEW] Saturday is a key day for powers Italy, Spain and Portugal, who are all fighting to stay in contention in Euro 2008 qualifying. Unfortunately, they find themselves depleted of firepower at the end of a long season. Italy is fourth in Group B with 10 points, two points behind leaders Ukraine, Scotland and France, and it will be missing many key strikers for its trip to the Faeroe Islands on Saturday and Lithuania on Wednesday. Spain is third in Group F, four points behind leaders Northern Ireland and three behind Sweden, and also has problems up front. With Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres injured, uncapped Osasuna striker Roberto Soldado may start up front with David Villa against Latvia on Saturday. Portugal is second in Group A, five points behind Poland, going into its game at Belgium on Saturday, but Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is suspended and Benfica attackers Simao Sabrosa and Nuno Gomes are injured. The biggest clash takes place at the Stade de France, where 2006 World Cup runner-up France hosts quarterfinalist Ukraine. Both teams will be without their scoring aces. Nicolas Anelka should fill in for Thierry Henry, out with a groin injury, in the Bleus’ attack. Andriy Voronin will be the main Ukraine threat in the absence of Andriy Shevchenko, who underwent hernia surgery last month.
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Panamanian Perez leads underdog Cucuta past Boca in Libertadores Cup
Panamanian striker Blas Perez led unfancied Colombian club Cucuta to a stunning 3-1 victory over Argentina’s Boca Juniors in the first leg of their Libertadores Cup semifinal series on Thursday.
Perez scored two spectacular goals to the delight of a sellout crowd of 45,000 fans at the General Santander Stadium. Gremio beat Brazilian rival Santos 2-0 in the first leg of the other semifinal on Wednesday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It’s fair to say that Las Vegas is a market that’s interesting to us. We think it would be very supportive of professional soccer, so it’s a market we’re looking at.”
— MLS President Mark Abbott after the Las Vegas Sports & Entertainment Group said it is ready to wire a $35 million expansion fee to the league. Group president Mark Noorzai says he’s assembled a financial group worth several billion dollars and plans include a $500 million retractable-roof stadium, an adjacent hotel and casino, practice fields and other amenities on 200 acres. (Las Vegas Sun)
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Kaka and Ronaldinho to make cameo at Wembley
The rebuilding of Brazil continues when it faces England at Wembley on Friday in a key test before the Copa America later this month. Coach Dunga’s squad for Friday’s game should include superstars Ronaldinho and Kaka, who have both asked not to go to Venezuela for the Copa America. Kaka and Ronaldinho are expected to play behind Vagner Love and Robinho of Real Madrid in the Brazil attack at Wembley. Jo could start for Robinho, giving Brazil a strike force of players based at Russian club CSKA Moscow. Gilberto Silva was outstanding in midfield for Arsenal and should join Elano of Ukraine club Shakhtar Donetsk as holding midfielders behind Ronaldinho and Kaka against England
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USA a strong favorite against struggling Chinese
The USA’s friendly on Saturday against China in San Jose (8 pm ET/5 pm PT, live on ESPN2 and Galavision) will be its final warmup before this summer’s Gold Cup and Copa America. The Chinese are prepping for the Asian Cup in July, and will also meet the Los Angeles Galaxy (June 5) and Colorado Rapids (June 10) on their U.S. tour. On May 16, China fell 1-0 to Thailand in what was its first loss to a Southeast Asian team in nearly two decades — a defeat that almost got Coach Zhu Guanghu fired.
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East leaders, Texas rivals meet in MLS action
[TV PREVIEW] An clash of two of the Eastern Conference leaders and a Texas showdown in the West highlight the ninth week of MLS play. A few teams have already lost players to international duty and many more will join the U.S. team on Monday, so this will be the last chance for coaches to field their strongest squads for quite a while.
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OFF THE POST: Now that’s fan support!
When word got out earlier this year that Vietnam’s head coach Alfred Riedl, 57, needed a kidney transplant, 80 Vietnamese soccer fans offered to donate one of theirs. A compatible donor was found, and the popular Austrian is recovering well. "I was really touched when I saw that so many people wanted to help me," Riedl told FIFA.com. "Vietnam now is even more a part of me.”
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Brennan’s strike for Toronto tops MLS golazos
[VIDEO] MLS can be justly criticized for several facets of its play, and the current goalscoring rate of 2.55 goals per game isn’t spectacular, yet more than a few of the goals have been just that. Each of the five nominees for Goal of the Week last week deserved high praise: Toronto midfielder Jim Brennan belted a 35-yarder to take the prize, yet it only edged out Maykel Galindo‘s 30-yard smash after bouncing up from a midfield tackle and a great free kick by Christian Gomez.
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Kansas City and Ocean City remain perfect in PDL
[PDL RESULTS] The Kansas City Brass improved to 4-0-0 with a 1-0 win over Springfield and 3-1 victory at St. Louis. Joshua White had the lone goal in the win over the Demize, while he had the second goal against the Lions, who had a run of 15 games without a defeat going into the game. The Ocean City Barons are the only other unbeaten and untied team in the PDL. They improved to 4-0-0 with a 1-0 win over the Richmond Kickers Future on a goal by Byron Carmichael with a header off Sean Boyle‘s free kick in the second minute. For complete results and goalscorers …
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W-League’s Sunwaves peak in Rockies
[W-LEAGUE RESULTS] The San Diego Sunwaves became the first team to record three wins when they improved to 3-0-0 with wins at Ft. Collins (3-2) and Mile High (4-0). Rebekah Patrick and Holly Grogan scored in both games. Mexican international Sophia Perez in goal got tremendous support from Mariette Boyce, Beth McNamara, Lisa Gomez, Ana Gutierrez and Patrick. For complete results and goalscorers …
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Manchester United signs phenoms Nani and Anderson
Four years after signing 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, then a relatively unknown winger at Portuguese club Sporting, Manchester United has spent big money on two young prospects from Portuguese clubs. United agreed to sign Sporting winger Nani, who has been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo, for $35 million and Porto’s Brazilian playmaker, Anderson, dubbed the new Ronaldinho, for a similar amount.
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U.S. Soccer plans nationwide youth academy program
The U.S. Soccer Federation is creating a national youth league and academy program for teenage boys that will involve up to 2,400 players at both the U-15 and U-18 age groups, according to Washington Post reporter Steven Goff . “The federation plans to identify 60 to 80 youth clubs across the country,” reports Goff. “Those clubs will then select players from the under-15 and under-18 age groups to participate in the academy.”
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Scotsman McBeth pays price for FIFA remarks
Sepp Blatter‘s re-election to a third term as president of FIFA on Thursday was overshadowed by remarks by Scotsman John McBeth critical of corruption within FIFA countries that resulted in his being replaced by Geoff Thompson, chairman of the English FA, as Britain’s vice-president on FIFA’s executive committee. McBeth won his place in a vote of the four British associations earlier this year, but remarks about African and Caribbean nations to Scottish reporters last week sparked a swift reaction within FIFA.
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What They’re Saying
“If Rafa said he wanted to buy ‘Snoogy Doogy,’ we would back him.”
— Liverpool’s American owner George Gillett, trying to demonstrate his support of Coach Rafael Benitez‘s offseason player shopping, creates a new rapper moniker. (BBC)
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Final spots on line for U.S. U-20s
Players such as Italian-based New Yorker Gabriel Ferrari have a chance to clinch a spot on the U.S. team that will compete in this summer’s U-20 World Cup when Coach Thomas Rongen assesses a 16-man squad during a dress rehearsal tour of Canada. Perhaps half of the players Rongen has taken north of the border for a pair of games against Canada in the next week won’t be on his final roster, yet in the Canadian contingent are several players Rongen has been anxious to observe up close as he makes his final roster decisions for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup (June 30-July 22 in Canada).
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Canada calls up seven MLS players for the Gold Cup
Canada called up 20 players and three reserves for the 2007 Gold Cup, which starts on June 6. Canada’s 20-player roster includes six players from MLS teams — three from Toronto FC two from the Los Angeles Galaxy and one from the Houston Dynamo — and three USL players — two from the Montreal Impact and Martin Nash, brother of NBA star Steve Nash, from the champion Vancouver Whitecaps. The only uncapped player is Antonio Ribeiro of the Impact. Toronto FC captain Jim Brennan turned down an invitation to play for Canada to concentrate on MLS play.
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Dispute depletes T&T squad for the Gold Cup
Trinidad & Tobago will send a depleted roster to the Gold Cup, where it will face the USA in the first round. All 2006 World Cup veterans playing abroad won’t be playing because of a dispute with the T&T federation over World Cup bonuses. Dwight Yorke, the T&T captain at the 2006 World Cup, turned down an offer to return to the national team. His decision not to come out of international retirement a second time was reportedly to support his World Cup teammates who are currently locked in a dispute over bonuses with the T&T federation.
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Gold Cup teams to take 22 MLS players
[MAKING A LIST] Twenty-two MLS players were called up for the 2007 Gold Cup. Expansion Toronto FC led all teams with four players (including Chris Pozniak whom Canada is listing as a “reserve.”). New York (which shares the overall MLS lead with New England), D.C. United (last year’s regular-season champion, D.C. United) and Real Salt Lake were the only MLS teams not to have anyone called up for the Gold Cup. The list of 22 players includes Amado Guevara, who is persona non grata at Chivas USA, but not Mexican Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who will later join Chicago from Club America. In addition, six Gold Cup players play in the USL-1.
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CONCACAF releases Gold Cup rosters
[GOLD CUP ROSTERS] CONCACAF released the final rosters for all 12 teams that will compete in the 2007 Gold Cup June 6-24 at six U.S. venues. The roster for each team consists of 23 players. A player may only be substituted in the event of a serious injury up until 24 hours before the team’s first match. For complete rosters …
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U.S. Open Cup first-round draw released
[DRAW] The 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins June 12-16 with 16 first-round matches involving teams from the USL-1, USL-2, PDL and USASA. The winners face off in the second round on June 26. The eight survivors meet the eight MLS entrants in the third round. For first-round matchups …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
"He is the anti-Beckham. He is not handsome. He is not a millionaire. He is not married to a Hollywood star. He has a hunchback. He has a strange hairdo. But he is arriving in the perfect city at the perfect time for him. When he takes the field, the Mexicans aren’t going to say, ‘Look at the goal Temoc Blanco scored.’ They will say, ‘Look at the goal we scored.'”
— Jose Ramon Fernandez, a sports commentator for Grupo Monitor radio, on Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who will join the Chicago Fire and is MLS’s second-highest paid “designated player” after Los Angeles-bound David Beckham. (Chicago Tribune)
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Four newcomers included in U.S. roster for China game
[ROSTER] U.S. coach Bob Bradley‘s 19-man roster for Saturday’s friendly against China includes 11 European-based players who are also on the USA’s Gold Cup roster and four national team newcomers: Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven/Netherlands), Kamani Hill (Wolfsburg/Germany), Charlie Davies (Hammarby/Sweden), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA). The contingent of MLS players for the China game is limited to Chivas USA players because Chivas does not have a game this weekend. The squad’s most experienced players are Kasey Keller, DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Oguchi Onyewu and Ante Razov