Last season, MLS averaged 2.62 goals per game, its lowest besides the 2.61 its teams mustered in 2004. Fans are seeing even fewer goals in early going of the 2007 season. The first 26 games have an average of 2.27 goals. Kansas City leads the league in scoring, having notched nine goals in its first four games for a 2.25 average. New England’s Taylor Twellman leads the league in scoring with four strikes in four games, followed by Eddie Johnson, who’s notched three goals, which exceeds his output of the 2006 season.
Category: Soccer America Daily
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Libertadores Cup win streak ends for Brazil’s Santos
Santos could have broken the Libertadores Cup record of eight straight wins it shares with Vasco da Gama by beating Caracas FC in Venezuela on Wednesday night but tied, 2-2. In a battle between the only two Argentine clubs left in the competition, Boca Juniors beat Velez Sarsfield even though Martin Palermo missed his second penalty kick in four days. Palermo is famous for missing three penalty kicks in one game while playing for Argentina against Colombia in 1999.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
‘The biggest financial prize in world soccer’
A report by accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche says that the teams promoted this season from the English second tier to the English Premier League will be rewarded with up to $120 million, thanks to the EPL’s new TV deal. Birmingham City and Sunderland have already clinched promotion. Four other teams will play off for the remaining spot, which will be decided in a May 28 final at the new Wembley, a game the report called, “the biggest financial prize in world football.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
D.C. hopes to get it right against Revs
[TV PREVIEW] Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney talked to New England coach Steve Nicol on the eve of the Revs’ Thursday night (ESPN2, 7 pm ET) clash with D.C. United, the preseason favorite that has lost its first three games.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
The good, the bad and the ugly of MLS’s Month 1
The good, the bad and the ugly marked the first month of MLS play in 2007. Two new stadiums staged their first matches, harsh weather curtailed attendances in some cities, and the two teams picked by many to reach MLS Cup 2007 staggered out of the gate. So what’s wrong with preseason favorites D.C. United and Houston, and how’d the Red Bulls get hot?
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Man. United looks to make European history
[TV PREVIEW] Manchester United looks to set up the first all-English final in the UEFA Champions League when it faces AC Milan Wednesday in the second leg of the semifinals at the San Siro. United carries a 3-2 lead into the game and is riding high after a 4-2 comeback win over Everton on Saturday that all but clinched the English Premier League title.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Libertadores Cup Preview
[TV PREVIEW] Four months after quitting as Boca Juniors coach, Ricardo La Volpe returns to La Bombonera Wednesday night as coach of Velez Sarsfield for the first leg of their Libertadores Cup round-of-16 series. Mexican clubs Toluca, Necaxa and Club America have both signed reinforcements for the knockout phase. Brazilian club Santos can break the Libertadores Cup record of eight straight wins it now shares with Vasco da Gama if it beats Caracas FC in Venezuela.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. U-17 opponents raid youth ranks for players
Three of the U.S. opponents at the CONCACAF Under-17 qualifying tournament in Jamaica have American products on their roster. Canada, which faces the USA Wednesday night at 5 pm CT in Kingston, has 16-year-old defender Drew Beckie, who took up soccer at the age of 4 after moving from Canada and plays for Real Colorado. Several other players in Canada’s U-17 pool are American-based while Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica also have a U.S. connection.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Singing
“Wise, Wise, whatever have you done? You’ve taken Leeds to Division One. You won’t win a cup, you won’t win a shield, your biggest game will be Huddersfield.”
— A chant, to the tune of “Lord of the Dance,” from fans of English second-tier club Barnsley directed Leeds coach Dennis Wise. Leeds United, for which American Eddie Lewis plays in midfield, will be relegated to England’s third tier (Division One) unless it wins its last game of the season against Derby on Sunday by eight goals and Hull loses. (BBC)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Liverpool again overcomes Chelsea to reach Champions League final
Liverpool defeated Chelsea, 4-1, Tuesday night on penalty kicks to reach the Champions League final for the second time in three seasons. Two years ago, the Reds beat Chelsea, 1-0, at home for a 1-0 aggregate victory en route to their fifth title in Europe’s most important competition, This time, both teams won, 1-0, at home, with the Reds’ 1-0 win on Tuesday setting the stage for the decisive shootout before a vocal Anfield crowd in rare form.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OFF THE POST: Lights on, lights out for clubhouse thief
A burglar without the foresight to bring a flashlight broke into the stadium clubhouse of German amateur club Germania Freund at 3 am. He flipped the first light switch he could find, which turned on the stadium floodlights. Local residents, realizing a game at that hour was unlikely, called the authorities, who made the arrest.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Lots of bathrooms for the Beverly Hill Beckhams
[PHOTOS] Los Angeles Galaxy-bound David Beckham, who turns 32 today, and wife Victoria have reportedly purchased a six-bedroom, nine-bathroom house in Beverly Hills for $22 million. People magazine reported that the Beckhams, who have children age 8, 4, and 2, “had struggled to find a home in Los Angeles as sellers raised prices when they learned the famous couple were interested.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OFF THE POST: Ref ejects giant lion from EPL match
Referee M.A. Riley ejected Reading’s mascot, Kingsley the Giant Lion, minutes before halftime of the Royals’ game against Newcastle United on Monday. Kingsley, who wears a Reading jersey over his fur, roared the team on from the sideline, which apparently confused Riley. “I can see where the referee was getting confused, you know he does look like so many of my players,” joked Reading coach Steve Coppell, whose team managed a 1-0 despite lacking their lion. Mascot expulsions in Britain are not without precedent.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Reds must attack in Champions League showdown
[TV PREVIEW] Liverpool will have to do something on Tuesday it didn’t have to do in the second legs of the previous two rounds of the UEFA Champions League: attack. The Reds’ chances of earning a place in the Champions League final will depend on its ability to take the initiative against depleted Chelsea in Tuesday’s second leg. Chelsea leads, 1-0, going into the second leg.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Finding Nimo, the new U-17 star
The meteoric rise of former Liberian refugee Alex Nimo continued as he scored twice on Monday night to lead the United States to a 3-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in its opening game at CONCACAF’s Under-17 World Cup qualifying tournament in Kingston, Jamaica.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“We’re not going to start pointing fingers and let this team unravel. It’s very important for us right now to stay together because we are frustrated. It is a tough stretch we’ve gone through. It takes its toll. We’re not getting breaks but we’re also killing ourselves.”
— Midfielder Ben Olsen of D.C. United, the preseason MLS favorite that has lost its first three games of the season. (Washington Post)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. U-21 women finish second in Alabama
The U.S. U-21 women’s national team finished second at the six-team Futbol Internacional Tournament in Alabama, where it fell on penalty kicks to the Canadian Olympic development team in the final after playing to a 0-0 draw in regulation.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA crushes Israel for third in Ballymena
The U.S. under-16 boys national team captured third place at the Ballymena International Tournament in Northern Ireland with a 5-1 win over Israel on Friday. The Americans scored in bunches — three in five minutes in the first half and the other two in four minutes in the second half.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Salt Lake no better on a Monday
A rare Monday night MLS game was the same old story for host Real Salt Lake, which lost to its Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado, 2-0. Moved out of Rice-Eccles Stadium for the weekend by the NCAA gymnastic championships being staged by the University of Utah, RSL (0-2-2) labored through a scoreless first half before Roberto Brown and Kyle Beckerman scored four minutes apart to give Colorado (2-1-1) the victory and a share of the Western Conference lead.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Soccer is a cruel, cruel game.”
— Forward Alecko Eskandarian of Toronto. The MLS expansion club’s 1-0 loss to Kansas City in its home opener leaves it looking for its first goal after getting outscored, 10-0, in its first four games, all losses. (The Hamilton Spectator)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“Soccer is a cruel, cruel game.”
— Forward Alecko Eskandarian of Toronto. The MLS expansion club’s 1-0 loss to Kansas City in its home opener leaves it looking for its first goal after getting outscored, 10-0, in its first four games, all losses. (The Hamilton Spectator)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS WEEKEND WRAPUP: Twellman strikes again; L.A. wins ‘Clasico’
The Crew is still unbeaten, D.C. United is still pointless, and Toronto FC is still goalless after the fourth weekend of MLS play. (Colorado and Real Salt Lake play a rare Monday night match.) Taylor Twellman scored again and defending champion Houston again was shut out.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
3. AMERICANS ABROAD: Keller’s Gladbach relegated; Fulham on shaky ground; Santos survives
Goalkeeper Kasey Keller’s club has been relegated to the German Second Division and English Premier League club Fulham, which includes three Americans in its ranks, is threatened with a similar fate. But in Mexico, Santos Laguna, for which Edgar Castillo is a regular, survived a relegation scare.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
4. EUROPEAN RACES: United breaks into clear
Manchester United broke into the clear in the English Premier League race Saturday when it rallied from two goals down to beat Everton, 4-2, while second-place Chelsea could only tie Bolton Wanderers, 2-2, at home.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
5. MEXICO: Pachuca leads six into quarterfinals
Pachuca, which has won championships on two continents in the last six months, defeated Atlante, 4-1, to finish Mexico’s Torneo Clausura as the overall leader of the first stage with 39 points, eight more than Guadalajara and nine more than Club America. Queretaro lasted just one year back in the First Division when it was relegated after falling to Atlas, 2-0.