Category: Soccer America Daily

So you think there’s no money to be made in soccer? Scottish champion Celtic announced profits of 17.9 million pounds (almost $36 million) for the first six months of its fiscal year. Celtic benefited from its participation in the UEFA Champions League, where it has reached next week’s round of 16, and long-term sponsorship deals […]

Barcelona and Real Madrid aren’t the only Spanish clubs with player discord. One of the closest La Liga races in years has been overshadowed by problems at Barcelona (where Cameroonian star Samuel Eto’o criticized Coach Frank Rijkaard and teammate Ronaldinho) and Real Madrid (where David Beckham spent a month off the first team). Fourth-place Valencia […]

As expected, Honduras claimed the 12th and final berth in the 2007 Gold Cup with a 9-1 victory over Nicaragua Thursday in the fifth-place game at the UNCAF Digicel Cup. Veteran Wilmer Velasquez had four goals, and former MLS and A-League striker Saul Martinez added three for the Catrachos, who join Digicel Cup semifinalists El […]

After opening with Argentina (June 28), the USA will face Paraguay (July 2) and Colombia (July 5) in group play at the Venezuela-hosted 2007 Copa America. “I think quite obviously we have been put in a very competitive group,” said U.S. coach Bob Bradley. “When we decided that we wanted to enter Copa America, we […]

“He was complaining I elbowed him in the head. So I said: ‘Look at where your head is, I can’t help it if you’re so short you only come up to my elbow.’ He smiled and said ‘You’ve got a point there’.” — Newcastle’s 6-foot-4 America defender Oguchi Onyewu on his clash with Liverpool’s 5-9 […]

American goalie Brad Freidel could do nothing about a sublime finish by German international Bernd Schneider that gave German club Bayer Leverkusen a 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday in the first leg of their UEFA Cup round-of-32 series in Leverkusen. Schneider back-heeled a cross from Gonzalo Castro to give Leverkusen the win after […]

Arsenal was given a scare at Bolton Wanderers before prevailing, 3-1, in overtime Wednesday to advance to the round of 16 of the English FA Cup. Swedish sub Fredrik Ljungberg scored the winning early in the second overtime after Bolton had tied the score on a 90th-minute equalizer from defender Abdoulaye Meite. Togolese striker Emmanuel […]

By Ridge Mahoney American keeper Tim Howard has made the same determination as American teammate Kenny Cooper: Manchester United is one of the world’s greatest clubs, but it isn’t the right place for him. Everton has reached an agreement to convert Howard’s loan from Manchester United into a transfer, effective in the summer. The club’s […]

Panama claimed the fourth spot from Central America in the 2007 Gold Cup when the Canaleros beat Costa Rica, 1-0, on Tuesday night and took first place in Group 2 at the UNCAF Digicel Cup being played in San Salvador, El Salvador. Alberto Blanco scored the late goal to give Panama the win over Costa […]

Taylor Twellman, who re-signed Monday with the New England Revolution for four years, has been MLS’s leading goalscorer (regular season) since entering the league in 2002 from German club 1860 Munich’s amateur team. Twellman shared the scoring title in 2005 and won it outright in 2005. PLAYER (GOALS) 1. Taylor Twellman (75) 2. Carlos Ruiz […]

The USA will face Argentina June 28 in its opening game at the 2007 Copa America. It will learn its other two group opponents when the draw for the the South American championship is staged Wednesday at 6 pm ET in Caracas. The first phase of the tournament consists of three groups of four teams […]

“When you play here, back in Mexico they think you are on vacation and that it’s very easy to come play here in the United States. They don’t know this league or these players, and that’s why I think the Mexican players were surprised by the American players because they hadn’t seen them before and […]

Contenders in several major league races will be in action this week as European action resumes with the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup. Defending UEFA Cup champion Sevilla, which is in second place in Spain’s La Liga, travels to Steaua Bucharest, and Werder Bremen, which is second in the German Bundesliga, faces Dutch […]

In a sign of the times, China’s 30 million English Premier League fans will have to pay $24 a month if they want to watch EPL games, beginning next season. Tiny WinTV (40,000 subscribers) won EPL broadcasting, Internet and mobile rights. Previously, fans could watch for free on ESPN-Star via local cable. “The fans will […]

Last Wednesday’s USA-Mexico game was the most-watched U.S. game in the team’s history on ESPN2, outside of the World Cup and World Cup qualifiers. The game earned a 0.7 household rating on ESPN2, which translates to 1.1 million viewers, and averaged a 1.0 rating during the final 15 minutes. On Univision, the match also set […]

“What’s a little disappointing to me, but not unexpected, is that you can be a bad soccer player, OK, and you might not be the fastest or you might not be the most skilled, but don’t show up here and be out of shape. I mean, some of the beer guts that we see and […]

The U.S. U-17 national team will get a taste of what they should expect to see in CONCACAF qualifying this spring when they travel to Jamaica to face an all-star team on Friday. Along with the match, the four-day trip will be beneficial for the U-17s, who will have the chance to practice in Kingston’s […]

Bob Bradley added three players, all collegians last fall, to the U.S. U-23 national team training camp taking place at the Home Depot Center. Goalkeeper Justin Hughes (drafted by MLS’s Colorado Rapids out of North Carolina), defender Sean Franklin (Cal State Northridge) and midfielder Peter Lowry (Santa Clara) bring the roster up to 23 players. […]

The U.S. women’s national team returns to training on Wednesday with 28 players in camp Feb. 14-21 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., to prepare for next month’s Algarve Cup. Following the camp, U.S. head coach Greg Ryan will name 20 players who will travel to the tournament to be played from March […]

“As I said before, the mark of an intelligent person is one who knows how to rectify his mistakes.” — Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello saying he had no need to apologize to David Beckham, who scored for Real in its 2-1 victory Saturday over Real Sociedad in his first game back after Capello banished […]

Tim Howard was the only American who started in the 2-0 victory over Mexico on Wednesday and played in weekend English Premier League action. Howard shut out Blackburn, 1-0, to win the battle of the Yank keepers over Brad Friedel. Marcus Hahnemann also picked up a shutout as Reading beat Aston Villa, 2-0, for its […]

David Beckham‘s storied career took a dramatic turn when he celebrated his return to the Real Madrid lineup with a goal on a free kick to help the Merengues beat Real Sociedad, 2-1, in La Liga on Saturday night. The win probably saved the job of Real coach Fabio Capello, who had banished Beckham from […]

By Ridge Mahoney Senior Editor Soccer America MLS IN THE DESERT. Next week, the Columbus Crew and FC Dallas play their first preseason games. Dozens will be played by MLS teams leading up to the opening day of the season, April 7. But only a few will take place in Arizona. Grand Canyon College in […]

Play resumed in Italy with four games played behind closed doors and Sunday’s match between AC Milan and Livoro at the famous San Siro stadium restricted to only Milan season-ticket holders. The return came amid tight security measures all across Italy following the death of a policeman in rioting Feb. 2 outside Catania’s Massimino Stadium. […]

Two days after the USA’s 2-0 victory over Mexico, Bob Bradley was back to work — this time with the U.S. under-23 national team. Bradley, the interim national team head coach and under-23 head coach, called 20 players into training camp that began Friday at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., in preparation for […]