Category: Soccer America Daily

By Ridge Mahoney In Glendale, Ariz. BAD BLOOD. Jimmy Conrad borrowed a page from the Oguchi Oneywu book while preparing to tangle with powerful Mexican striker Jared Borgetti. The two clashed several times during the USA’s 2-0 win on Wednesday and an early confrontation sparked a toe-to-toe shouting match that was as much psychological as […]

The Utah House, with a with 48-24 vote, endorsed a $35 million plan to pay for a parking garage and land for a stadium for Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah. The Utah State Senate, with a 20-8 vote, had already approved the measure. Supported by Gov. Jon Huntsman, the approval paves the way for […]

Host El Salvador and Guatemala won matches Thursday night on the opening night of the 2007 UNCAF Digicel Cup, the Central American championship that doubles as qualifying for the 2007 Gold Cup. UNCAF Digicel Cup Rosters In Group A play at San Salvador’s Estadio Cuscatlan, El Salvador got goals from Victor Velasquez and former D.C. […]

Spanish league leader Barcelona hopes the return of Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi will get it back on the winning track. They will both back for Sunday’s La Liga match against Racing Santander (TV: GolTV, live, 1 pm ET). Barca has won only two of six league games since play resumed after the Christmas break. […]

When play resumes this weekend in Italy’s Serie A, half of the matches will be played in closed stadiums. Giant AC Milan will host Livorno on Sunday (TV: GolTV, delay, 7:30 pm ET) with no one in the 80,000-seat San Siro stadium. Four other Serie A teams will play their home match behind closed doors, […]

By Ridge Mahoney Senior Editor, Soccer America in Glendale, Ariz. The players change, the coaches change, the venues change. The result doesn’t change. Mexico created more and better chances, again, and again failed to score while losing to the USA, 2-0, before a sellout crowd of 62,462 in the first meeting between the archrivals since […]

By Ridge Mahoney SOCCER AMERICA REPORT CARD (1=low; 5=average; 10-high) RATING PLAYER (CLUB CAPS/GOALS) STARTERS: 6 Tim Howard (Everton ENG 17/0) 4 Chris Albright (Los Angeles 21/1) 8 Jim Conrad (Kansas City 19/1) 6 Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham ENG 43/6) 5 Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA 2/1) 4 Clint Dempsey (Fulham/ENG 24/6) 6 Ricardo Clark (Houston 3/0) […]

American forward Conor Casey, 25, who has been in Germany since 2001, is reportedly leaving First Division club Mainz for MLS. Casey left the University of Portland after his sophomore year in 2000 to sign with First Division club Borussia Dortmund, for whose reserve team he played for in the Third and Fourth divisions before […]

“The sportsmanship. It’d be nice if more of you guys and the Mexican press talked about it because it’s really poor. They walk off the field and don’t want to shake our hands, don’t want to exchange jerseys. When we lose to them there we shake their hands and say good job, but there’s none […]

The Italian soccer federation gave the green light for teams to resume play this weekend after the government approved tough measures to fight violence. All play has been suspended since last Friday following the killing of a policeman in rioting by fans outside the Catania stadium in Sicily during the Serie A match between the […]

England struggled again, walking off the Old Trafford field Wednesday night to a chorus of boos from Manchester fans after a 1-0 loss to Spain. Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta scored the winner in the 63rd minute to extend England’s winless streak to four games. England, which was missing several key players, including Wayne Rooney, rarely threatened […]

German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt discovered that the crossbars of Bundesliga club Hamburg SV’s goals in its AOL-Arena, a 2006 World Cup venue, were 2 inches too low. Last-place Hamburg SV, whose squad includes American midfielder Benny Feilhaber, has scored a league-worst seven home-field goals in nine games while conceding nine goals.

“Our players are certainly aware of the record. [Mexico coach] Hugo Sanchez has used those statistics as motivation for his team, so I think that just puts more on the line as we go into this game.” — U.S. interim head coach Bob Bradley, whose team on Wednesday faces archrival Mexico, which has failed to […]

(TV: Wednesday, ESPN2 & Univision 9 pm ET, kickoff 9:25 pm ET.) By Ridge Mahoney Senior Editor, Soccer America in Glendale, Ariz. There’s turmoil in the Mexican camp. The American players are forecasting a World Cup atmosphere. The sellout crowd of 62,000 will be mostly attired in green. It’s USA-Mexico, what else? “This game will […]

Prosecutors called for a 10-month jail sentence for Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, considered a candidate for the U.S. national team coaching job, and a 13-month sentence for Hiddink’s adviser on tax fraud charges. They accuse Hiddink, currently the Russia national team coach, of evading almost $1.81 million in Dutch taxes for falsely claiming he was […]

Late goals from Simao Sabrosa and central Ricardo Carvalho gave Portugal a 2-0 win over Brazil in a friendly international at London’s Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. The goals were set up by well-struck balls by Ricardo Quaresma and Hugo Viana. It was Dunga‘s first defeat in six internationals as Brazil coach since taking over from […]

England-Spain and France-Argentina friendlies highlight a heavy slate of games on Wednesday’s international fixture calendar. England and Spain will be looking for a confidence boost after disappointing fall campaigns in Euro 2008 qualifying when they meet in Manchester (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 3 pm ET). England coach Steve McClaren will try again with a […]

“You wouldn’t argue with him. I think I’ll leave it to my assistant, Nigel Pearson, to tell him if he’s done something wrong.” — Newcastle head coach Glenn Roeder on Oguchi Onyewu, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound American defender who joined the English Premier League club from Belgium’s Standard Liege. (BBC)

Major League Soccer has announced its 2007 schedule that allows for David Beckham to play with the Los Angeles Galaxy in every MLS city after his expected arrival in mid-July, more than half way through the 2007 season. 2007 MLS Schedule (with television dates) Beckham’s contract with Real Madrid ends June 30, and he could […]

“I like the style of play that they play. It’s just one of those things that you look forward to. You like to play against teams that play good soccer, and hopefully we can win.” — U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey on Wednesday’s friendly against Mexico in Arizona. More than 50,000 tickets have already been sold. […]

When Germany won its first World Cup in 1954, adidas founder Adi Dassler was hailed for providing the team with revolutionary screw-in studs that helped the players cope with the water-logged field in Bern, site of their 3-2 win over Hungary. For another half-century, and two more World Cup victories, Germany wore the three stripes […]

Roberto Brown, a 29-year-old Panamanian forward, has signed with the Colorado Rapids. “El Bombardero” scored against the USA in a 1-1 tie during qualifying play for the 2006 World Cup. He arrives from Tacuarembo FC in the Uruguayan first division. “His addition to the offensive line will help solve the scoring drought issues from last […]

Brazil and Portugal meet for the first since 2003 when they face off in an international friendly Tuesday in London at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 3 pm ET). Luiz Felipe Scolari, Portugal’s Brazilian coach, has sat on the bench for two previous Brazil-Portugal friendlies — the first as Brazil coach in […]

New U.S. Under-20 women’s national team’s coach Jillian Ellis is conducting her first training camp of the new cycle, running Feb. 4-11 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The U-20s will be looking to play at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. They will play their first international matches of […]

After being highly criticized for his method of protesting a referee’s call, the Portuguese coach of Egyptian champion Al Ahli has apologized. “After analyzing my reaction … I found out that it was inappropriate and I apologize to all fans in general and to Al Ahli’s fans in particular,” Manual Jose said. “I forgot at […]