Category: Soccer America Daily

[MLS] Jesus Padilla, a 22-year-old California-born Mexican-American who left home at age 14 to join Chivas Guadalajara, has been acquired by Chivas USA on loan. Padilla, who plays in the midfield and on the frontline, spoke with Soccer America’s Mike Woitalla after Padilla came on as a sub for Guadalajara in an exhibition against Barcelona in San Francisco earlier this month.

[MLS] The New York Red Bulls, MLS’s worst team with only two wins, got reinforcement in 25-year-old Argentine defender Walter Garcia, who arrives from Argentine second division club Quilmes.

[BY THE NUMBERS] Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid on a $130 transfer, could rival David Beckham in endorsement income.

Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal hasn’t exactly gotten off to a great start at Bayern Munich. Bayern’s 1-1 tie with visiting Werder Bremen was its second tie in two games … Rangers and Celtic both won on opening day in Scotland … For all the weekend action abroad …

[WPS] In only her third game as player-coach of Sky Blue FC, U.S. national team captain Christine Rampone showed off her coaching talent, shaking up the Sky Blue’s lineup for its first-round playoff game at Washington. She had leading scorer Natasha Kai on bench at the start of the game, but Kai and another sub, the little-used Brazilian Francielle, came on to score and lead the New Jersey team past the Freedom, 2-1.

[TELEVISION WATCH] Soccer fans surfing their television dial on Saturday morning were surprised to find Chelsea playing Hull City (with Jozy Altidore not suited up) in English Premier League action on ESPN2, which will air one match each Saturday and 12 Monday afternoon games as part of a package of 48 live broadcasts this season.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Three days after scoring for the USA against Mexico at Azteca Stadium, Charlie Davies scored twice for Sochaux — his first two goals in France’s Ligue 1 — in a 3-2 loss to defending champion Bordeaux. In his second appearance, Davies came off the bench at halftime.

[USL-1] It was a very productive road trip for the Portland Timbers. They beat Montreal (1-0) and Rochester (4-1) to open up a four-point lead at the top of the USL First Division and extend their league record unbeaten streak to 22 games.

[ENGLAND] The Premier League’s five London teams all won on the opening weekend of play. The biggest win was by Arsenal, which buried Tim Howard‘s Everton, 6-1, showing it hardly missed its high-scoring striker Emmanuel Adebayor sold (along with Gunner defender Kolo Toure) to Manchester City.

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] David Beckham followed up his lackluster performances and fan confrontations with an ejection that the Seattle Sounders took advantage of to down the Galaxy, 2-0, ending Los Angeles’ six-game undefeated streak. Beckham was just one of many who were ejected last weekend. …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] It was a bad weekend of American goalkeepers in Europe, but Clint Dempsey created a goal for Fulham (in peculiar fashion). Besides Charlie Davies‘ two strikes in France, Michael Orozco hit the net in Mexico. In Germany, U.S. internationals were “quarantined” because of Landon Donovan‘s swine flu problem. How Americans fared in foreign leagues …

Seattle moved back into second place in the Western Conference with its 2-0 win at Los Angeles. Meanwhile, D.C. United dropped to ninth place in the overall standings, behind Toronto FC and Chivas USA when Toronto beat D.C., 2-0, and Chivas won by the same score at New York. For all the weekend summaries, standings and leading scorers …

[ENGLAND] The Los Angeles Galaxy’s David Beckham started for England in its 2-2 friendly home tie with the Netherlands on Wednesday. He was subbed at halftime, when the Dutch had a two-goal lead. The Mirror said Beckham’s performance proved he deserved a spot in the 2010 World Cup squad, but other reviews weren’t quite as flattering.

[ENGLAND] Though they are not expected to see regular first-team action any time soon, a pair of U.S. collegians Anton Peterlin (Cal Poly) and Cody Arnoux (Wake Forest) signed this summer with Everton. For all the summer moves in the English Premier League …

[OFF THE POST] Arsenal’s Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner changed his number from 26 to his lucky number 52 – and is offering to reimburse fans who bought replica jerseys with his old number.

[TRANSFER WATCH] It’s been a relatively quiet summer on the English Premier League transfer market. The spender has been Manchester City, which has been involved in five of the 10 biggest deals involving EPL buyers. City has spent $155 million on summer signings and the transfer market is not yet closed.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey, who joined the EPL club from the New England Revolution, has signed a new contract with Fulham through the summer of 2013. The 26-year-old has scored 14 goals in 81 Premier League games and was tied for the team scoring lead last season with seven.

[WPS PLAYOFFS] . The Washington Freedom is favored against visiting Sky Blue FC Saturday when Women’s Professional Soccer kicks off its unique playoff format (TV: Fox Sports Net, live, 4 pm ET). The Freedom has beaten Sky Blue twice and tied it once this season but will be without French star Sonia Bompastor, who has joined the Bleues to prepare for the UEFA Women’s Championship. A bigger loss than Bompastor for Washington could be central defender Anita Asante for Sky Blue FC. Asante has left to join England in training for Finland ’09.

[MLS PREDICTIONS] Toronto FC and D.C. United meet at BMO Field after being roughed up by Real Madrid, the surging Galaxy hosts the reeling Sounders, Real Salt Lake welcomes Houston to Rio Tinto Stadium for the first time, and Kansas City plays its first game with interim head coach Peter Vermes in charge at home against Chicago. For all of Soccer America’s predictions, as well as TV viewing information, and to see how Ridge Mahoney fared so far this season …

[MEXICO-USA] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players and analyzes their performances in their 2-1 loss to Mexico Wednesday at Azteca Stadium.

[U.S. REACTION] Members of the U.S. national team bemoaned the missed opportunity to take a point at Azteca and jeopardize Mexico’s chances of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Here’s what Charlie Davies, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Carlos Bocanegra and Tim Howard had to say after the 2-1 loss in Mexico City …

[MEXICO REACTION] No one was more relieved that Mexico had beaten the USA than its coach, Javier Aguirre. For the second time in eight years, “El Vasco” had been called in to lead Mexico in a key qualifier against the USA and accomplished the task. His reaction? “We can have a couple of tequilas tonight,” he said.