Category: Soccer America Daily

Harvard University freshman Andre Akpan scored a hat trick as the USA defeated, Haiti, 4-1 Wednesday night in their opening match of the 2007 CONCACAF Under-20 Qualifying Tournament in Panama City, Panama. Akpan scored on passes from Anthony Wallace and U-20 veteran Danny Szetela in the first half and from Heerenveen rookie Robbie Rogers in […]

DaMarcus Beasley came on in the 89th minute in Manchester City’s 2-1 win in Tuesday’s third-round FA Cup replay with second-tier Sheffield Wednesday, for which American defender Frank Simek started and played 88 minutes. (Claudio Reyna has already left Manchester City to sign with the New York Red Bulls.)

D.C. United, which traded attackers Freddy Adu and Elecko Eskandarian after the 2006 season, has acquired 28-year-old striker Luciano Emilio from Honduran club CD Olimpia. Emilio began his pro career at age 16. He left Brazil for German First Division club FC Cologne in 1997 at age 18. He played in two Bundesliga games in […]

Preki will be Chivas USA’s new head coach, succeeding Bob Bradley, who left the post after one season upon being named U.S. national team interim head coach and U.S. Olympic coach. Preki, 43, played 10 seasons in MLS, retiring after the 2005 season. He scored 79 goals, notched 112 assists and was league MVP in […]

The USA kicks off CONCACAF qualifying for the 2007 Under-20 World Cup Wednesday night when it plays Haiti in the first game of a doubleheader in Panama City, Panama. The game kicks off a 6:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on GolTV. Group A Numerical Rosters The USA has qualified for every U-20 world […]

“There is vanity, egoism and they all think they are superstars. Real Madrid players never pay for anything. You [students] have education and culture and that’s something that they in general don’t possess.” — Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon in a lecture to university students that was recorded unbeknownst to him and later broadcast on […]

“I want to apologize for what I did. As the Madrid coach I should not do that. Since the first day I arrived there have been two people who have continually offended me and today it went too far.” — Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello, who showed his middle finger twice to fans after last […]

Haiti became the first the team to qualify for the 2007 Gold Cup from the Caribbean when it won its second straight game at the 2007 Digicel Caribbean Cup with a 2-0 victory over Barbados on Monday night in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Host Trinidad & Tobago, which had been held to a 1-1 tie […]

U.S. women’s national team head coach and technical director Greg Ryan has named Jillian Ellis as the new U.S. under-20 women’s national team head coach. Ellis, previously the U-21 women’s coach, will be charged with leading the team that will attempt to qualify for the 2008 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. Ellis has […]

Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla won in the category of Best Column in the 2006 NSCAA Writing Contest for “Remember, It’s Playtime.” It marks the sixth time Woitalla received an NSCAA Writing Contest Award and the 10th time an article from Soccer America Magazine was among the winners since the contest’s inception in 1995. […]

U.S. women’s national team coach Greg Ryan has named his 20-player roster for the 2007 Four Nations Tournament Jan. 26-30 in Guangzhou, China, against Germany, England and China. Defender Kate Markgraf (153 caps) will captain the U.S. team in the absence of Kristine Lilly. Ryan named six other players who were members of the 2004 […]

By Ridge Mahoney Senior Editor, Soccer America Real estate mogul Lewis Wolff, managing partner of the Oakland A’s baseball team, has presented San Jose State University officials a plan to renovate the ancient facility. A year ago, he negotiated a three-year exclusivity agreement with MLS, giving him sole authority to revive the Earthquakes. He has […]

By Ridge Mahoney in Indianapolis How can MLS improve its star power and overall quality as it slowly builds itself into a viable, successful sports enterprise? It tried a few years ago to address both issues by trumpeting the signing of Freddy Adu, who lit up TV screens and newspapers for a time because of […]

Brian McBride scored his team-leading seventh goal (video) of the English Premier League season as his Fulham team earned a come-from-behind 3-3 tie with West Ham, the third-to-last place club that played with a man down for the last 14 minutes. McBride’s headed goal tied the game at 2-2 in the in the 59th minute. […]

"The decision killed Beckham’s aspiration and hope and, in my view, led directly to this week’s announcement that he is off the the United States for a very lucrative semi-retirement. … What has become clear this week is that David no longer has the appetite to challenge at the very highest level." — Former England […]

Ohio Wesleyan men’s coach Jay Martin received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Honor Award at the NSCAA’s Awards Banquet held on Friday in conjunction with the NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. In his 30 years as coach of the Battling Bishops, Martin has led his teams to seven NCAA semifinals, a pair of […]

Necaxa and Club America won Mexico’s second and third spots in the Libertadores Cup with wins in the final of the InterLiga Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 27,000 at the Home Depot Center. Necaxa won its fourth straight game in the competition with a 1-0 win over Jaguares thanks to Kleber’s first-half goal. […]

Despite all the problems Real Madrid has had, culminating with the David Beckham move, Real finds itself in the thick of the race for the la Liga title. Fielding a front six that included five first-year players, the Merengues beat Real Zaragoza, 1-0, and moved within two points of leader Sevilla, which lost to struggling […]

Eight clubs — four from MLS and four from Mexico’s First Division — will play this summer in the SuperLiga, a new competition that will award $1 million to the winner — the heftiest winner’s purse in North American club soccer history. SuperLiga Schedule The eight entrants are the Houston Dynamo, the reigning MLS champion, […]

Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has dropped David Beckham, creating the possibility that Beckham/AEG will buy out his contract so he can debut for MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy at the start of the 2007 season in April, instead of in August as announced last Thursday. “When a player has a contract with a different club, […]

By Ridge Mahoney in Indianapolis The hysteria over David Beckham‘s move to America hasn’t subsided, yet MLS coaches and executives were busily preparing for today’s SuperDraft (ESPN2, noon ET) into the wee hours. It will consist of four rounds and last between three and four hours; ESPN2 will televise the entire first round, time permitting. […]

David Beckham‘s move from Real Madrid to the Los Angeles Galaxy was no surprise, but the size of the deal has everyone in the soccer world buzzing. The English daily Daily Express called Beckham’s deal “the most mind-boggling contract in global sport.” The combined value of the MLS contract with commercial opportunities in the United […]

“Of course, it’s a huge amount of money … it’s an amazing amount of moneyI said yesterday and some people laughed at me, but this move for me is not about the money, it’s about hopefully making a difference in the US with the soccer and that’s what I’m going there for. I’m going for […]

“Rocky” star Sylvester Stallone is expected to be on the field Sunday to support Everton when the Toffees face Reading in England Premier League action on Sunday. Stallone, who is in Britain to promote his latest film “Rocky Balboa,” is a friend of major Everton shareholder Robert Earl, founder of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. […]

David Beckham‘s departure from Real Madrid came in the wake of President Ramon Calderon‘s decision to shake up the struggling team Beckham reaction from Madrid Calderon met on Monday with first-year Italian coach Fabio Capello and sports director Predrag Mijatovic after Real lost three of its last four league games. “The coach has told me […]