Category: Soccer America Daily

After a week dominated by news of an altercation that rekindled the image of English soccer stars as out-of-control boozers, Liverpool stunned defending champion Barcelona, 2-1, Wednesday in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 series. Liverpool’s goalscorers were Craig Bellamy and John-Arne Riise, who were at the center of the controversy surrounding […]

By Ridge Mahoney U.S. Soccer will send a team comprised mostly of MLS players to the Copa America, according to federation president Sunil Gulati, partially because European teams will not be obligated to release their players for that tournament. For invited teams Mexico and the United States, the Copa America is not a regional championship. […]

Winners by Country Mexico 22 Club America (5), Cruz Azul (5), UNAM. (3), Toluca (2), Guadalajara (1), Puebla (1), Pachuca (1), Necaxa (1), UdeG (1), Atlante (1), Espanol (1). Costa Rica 6 Saprissa (3), Alajuelense (2), Cartagines (1). El Salvador 3 Alianza (1), Fas (1), Aguila (1). Suriname 2 Transvaal (2). Honduras 2 Olimpia (2). […]

The Houston Dynamo and D.C. United on Wednesday begin their campaign to claim the CONCACAF Champions Cup for the USA for the third time. D.C. United, under then-coach Bruce Arena, won the 1998 crown. The Los Angeles Galaxy, then guided by Coach Sigi Schmid, took the crown in 2000. Club America is the defending champ […]

The U.S. U-15 national team coach Jim Barlow brought 24 players to the Home Depot Center, where they are spending a week training. Among those present at the camp, which runs through Saturday, are Charles Renken, the 13-year-old striker who entered the U.S. U-17 Residency Program in January, and Sebastian Ibeagha, whose older brother Christian […]

Manchester United was the only team to win on the road in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League games, beating French club Lille, 1-0, in an incident-filled game played in the French city of Lens. Lille had had the better play until Ryan Giggs scored on a free kick in the 82nd minute while Lille keeper Tony […]

French defender Sebastien Sansoni of Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem claims it wasn’t his intention to dine on NEC’s Roy Beerens, he just wanted to “scare him off.” Still, the biting motion (click here for video) earned Sansoni a five-game ban. “Although it was never my intention to hurt Beerens, it does look offensive,” admitted Sansoni, […]

“I’m like a badger at the start of the pairing-up season.” — Ian Holloway, coach of English second-tier club Plymouth, describes how he feels about his club’s reaching the FA Cup quarterfinals. (BBC)

Former Cuban national team forward Maykel Galindo, 26, who defected to the USA a day after scoring for Cuba in a 3-1 Gold Cup ’05 loss to Costa Rica in Seattle, has signed with Chivas USA. Galindo, who was granted political asylum, played a season and a half with USL First Division club Seattle Sounders, […]

California-born Michael Orozco, 21, has started and played the full 90 minutes in Mexican First Division club San Luis’ last two games, a 2-1 loss to Veracruz and a 1-0 win over Atlas. Orozco, who played youth ball for the Irvine Strikers and played on U.S. U-20 national team in 2004, has U.S. and Mexican […]

By Ridge Mahoney DWAYNE’S WORLD. Houston finished its preparation for its CONCACAF Champions Cup series against Puntarenas of Costa Rica by beating Chicago, 3-1, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Saturday. Ryan Cochrane, Alejandro Moreno and Corey Ashe scored the goals for Dynamo, which plays Puntarenas away in the first leg Wednesday. Houston will host the […]

"These figures demonstrate that the business is moving in the right direction." — Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon after the English Premier League club posted an annual pre-tax loss of $156 million,  its best financial performance since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took ownership of the club in 2003. (Reuters)

Liverpool’s new American owners, George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks, were welcomed to the wild side of English soccer with front-page headlines of out-of-control partying during the Reds’ stay in Portugal, where Manager Rafael Benitez brought the team to prepare for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League showdown at defending champion Barcelona. With a free weekend — […]

AC Milan veteran Paolo Maldini should become the fifth player, and the first Italian, to make 100 appearances in the Champions League when he takes to the field against Celtic on Tuesday. GP PLAYER (CURRENT CLUB) 106 Raul (Real Madrid) 105 Robert Carlos (Real Madrid) 102 David Beckham (Real Madrid) 100 Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich) […]

The UEFA Champions League moves into the knockout phase with the first leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday and Wednesday. The good news for American fans is all eight games are available on television, including five live telecasts, and all games are available on a pay-per-view basis via the Internet on espnsoccernet.com. Tuesday’s […]

Blackburn’s Brad Friedel made spectacular late-game saves on efforts by Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky, Thierry Henry and Justin Hoyte to earn a 0-0 tie for Rovers and set up a replay of the fifth round FA Cup clash. Also earning a replay against an EPL power (Manchester United), was Reading, whose regular starter in goal, Marcus […]

“It was a fantastic day. I gave everything I had. I was cramping up all over the place but I managed to finish the game.” — Ronaldo, who scored twice and assisted in his second game for AC Milan — a 4-3 win over Siena in Italian Serie A play. (The Guardian)

Striker Archie Thompson needed only 40 minutes to fulfill his prediction of scoring a hat trick in the Australian A-League grand final and then added two more goals in the second half as Melbourne Victory beat Adelaide United, 6-0, to win its first A-League title in front of a sellout crowd of 55,436, a record […]

ENGLAND. Premier League leader Manchester United had to settle for a 1-1 tie at home with surprise Reading Saturday in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford. Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Watford and Plymouth Argyle of the second-level League Championship were the only teams to win berths in the quarterfinals, while Premier […]

David Beckham continues to dominate the headlines in Spain. Last week it was for scoring on a free kick in his return to the Real Madrid starting lineup a month after being banished from the first team. On Saturday, Beckham made news for being sent off in Real Madrid’s 0-0 tie with Real Betis. Beckham’s […]

Several news outlets including UPI have reported that U.S. immigration authorities have denied visas to the eight-member bodyguard crew for David and Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, who will be moving to California this summer. The inability to get work permits for the security team is based on U.S. policy not to grant them if U.S. […]

Last September, Brazilian referee Silvia Regina de Oliveira was suspended for allowing Santacruzense’s game-tying goal to stand even though the ball was stroked home by the ball boy. (video) Earlier this month, another Brazilian ball boy committed a more egregious but less effective transgression when he smacked Botafogo-Riberao Preto goalkeeper Marcao with an iron bar. […]

By Ridge Mahoney He may be flush with a new contract, yet Revs’ striker Taylor Twellman is thinking of how to reward the lowest-paid players in MLS and ratchet up the intensity of league competition. Twellman signed a new four-year contract earlier this week that will pay him more than $300,000 per year. Yet Twellman […]

"Flamengo pulled off an heroic draw against Real Potosi in unsporting and inhumane conditions. … We want to make it public that … we will not take part in matches at an altitude above the limits recommended by sports medicine. … It degrades the human condition and puts the life of the athletes at risk." […]

Surprise Reading faces one of the biggest tests of the season when it travels to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the round of 16 of the English FA Cup on Saturday (TV: PPV-Setanta, delay, noon ET). The Royals are sixth in their first season in the Premier League and gave United a stuff […]