Category: Soccer America Daily

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Striker Kenny Cooper scored 17 minutes into his debut with German Second Division club 1860 Munich, which opened the season with a 2-0 win over TuS Koblenz. “The Ami was simply Super,” according to German daily Bild.

[MAKING A LIST]  D.C. United-Real Madrid and Barcelona-Guadalajara weekend exhibitions drew crowds of 72,368 and 61,572, respectively. They make it six crowds over 70,000, nine over 60,000 and 13 over 50,000 this summer.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] A handful of the Americans on the U.S. roster for its World Cup qualifier against Mexico on Wednesday saw league action last weekend, in Germany and France (whose 2009-10 seasons got underway), and in Denmark and Mexico.

[REAL MADRID TOUR] Real Madrid put its new Galacticos on display for the first time in North America, but the Spanish club’s old hands did the bulk of the scoring in wins over Toronto (5-1) and D.C. United (3-0).

[UNDER-17 WORLD CUP] Despite a reign of terror brought on last month by the extremist Muslim sect known as Boko Haram, the 2009 Under-17 World Cup will go on in Kano, where the USA will face Spain on Oct. 26 and Malawi on Oct. 29 before moving to Ijebu-Ode to close out the first round against UAE on Nov. 1.

[USL-1] Portland and Carolina moved into a tie for first place in the USL First Division, one point ahead of Charleston. In the week’s big match, the Timbers beat visiting Charleston, 3-1, before  9,477 fans. Guinean Mandjou Keita scored one goal and set up Alex Nimo and Ryan Pore for the others.

[WPS] The Washington Freedom clinched a playoff berth on the final weekend of the Women’s Professional Soccer regular season when it beat Sky Blue FC, 3-1, Saturday at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Sky Blue earned a playoff spot the next day when the Boston Breakers, needing a win, fell to the Los Angeles Sol, 2-1. The results set up a Freedom-Sky Blue rematch Saturday in the first round of the WPS playoffs.

[MLS] Six of the seven MLS players on the USA’s roster for Wednesday World Cup qualifier in Mexico fared well over the weekend, especially Landon Donovan, whose ninth goal of the season was a golazo, and Conor Casey, who hit a hat trick for Colorado.

The Los Angeles Galaxy moved closer to returning to the MLS playoffs after a three-year absence, winning, 2-1, at New England and moving into second place in the Western Conference. For all the MLS results, standings and leading scorers …

League play began in Germany, where defending champion Wolfsburg opened with a 2-0 win over VfB Stuttgart, and France, where titleholder Bordeaux crushed promoted Lens, 4-1. For all the results in Belgium, France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands and Turkey …

[PDL] Alfonso Motagalvan scored on a goalmouth scramble in stoppage time to give the Ventura County Fusion a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire, making the California team the lowest seed ever to win the Premier Development League championship.

[USA-MEXICO] U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley named the 20 players — 13 based abroad and seven in MLS — whom he will take to Mexico City for Wednesday’s much-anticipated showdown with Mexico in World Cup 2010 qualifying.

[OFF THE POST] When Tranmere Rovers hired Dornoch Capital to find a buyer for the club, this is not what it had mind: The U.S. firm put the third division club up for sale on eBay, with bidding starting at $10 million. “We were appalled,” said Tranmere chairman Peter Johnson, who ordered the listing removed. “This is not a second-hand bike we’re selling.”

[TRANSFER WATCH] The 2009-10 French season begins Saturday. The big winner on the French transfer market was Portuguese champion Porto, which earned more than $85 million in transfer fees from four separate deals. In an effort to regain the title it lost after seven seasons as champion, Lyon spent more than $100 million on players.

One young American arrived in France, and another departed. Charlie Davies should be a better fit at Sochaux, in need of help up front, than Freddy Adu was at Monaco, where he was just one of a dozen or so prospects in the first team. For all the French league player moves …

[MLS PREDICTIONS] Eastern Conference leader and defending champ Columbus travels to the Pacific Coast to play San Jose, and second-place Chicago takes on the Western leader in Houston. The Revs and Galaxy put their unbeaten streaks on the line head-to-head at Gillette Stadium, and Seattle gets a chance to improve its dismal record on grass at Rio Tinto Stadium. FSC offers up a tripleheader of two MLS games followed by the Barcelona-Guadalajara friendly (11 p.m. ET). For all of Soccer America’s predictions, as well as TV viewing information, and to see how Ridge Mahoney fared so far this season …

[MLS] There’s nothing about a lackluster season that a four-game winning streak won’t cure, or at least alleviate. About a month ago, the Galaxy went on a four-game blitz that lifted it into the playoff picture, and now the same can be said for FC Dallas. As it bid adieu to Kenny Cooper, striker Jeff Cunningham got red hot. He struck once again on Thursday evening to take Dallas past Texas rival Houston.

[AWARDS] The Reading Rage’s Aaron Wheeler, who led the PDL in scoring, was named the league’s MVP. Former U.S. U-17 resident Christian Ibeagha (Cary Clarets) swept Defender of the Year and U-19 Player of the Year honors. For all the PDL awards and all-league team …

[AWARDS] Swede Angelika Johansson (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues) won the W-League MVP award, while teammate Brittany Taylor was named the league’s top defender. For all the W-League awards and all-league team …

[SUPERLIGA] One year after coming within one goal of reaching MLS Cup, the Chicago Fire came within one kick of winning the third edition of SuperLiga, but couldn’t convert a sellout home crowd and an early goal into a victory.

[BARCELONA TOUR] Argentine Lionel Messi showed a record Seattle soccer crowd of 66,848 at Qwest Field why he is the best player in the world at the moment, scoring two first goals to lead Barcelona to a 4-0 win over MLS’s Sounders.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Leave it to the worst team in Major League Soccer to blow the league’s best chance of advancing to the group phase of the Concacaf Champions’ League. New York took two away goals and a 2-2 aggregate into its home leg at Giants Stadium on Wednesday, and in the first half increased its edge by scoring the first goal. Rather salvaging some semblance of accomplishment in a dismal season, the Red Bulls reverted to the ineptitude that has defined their performance in 2009, which includes MLS’s worst record and preliminary-round U.S. Open Cup elimination.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Striker Jozy Altidore, who earlier appeared headed to Greece on loan from his Spanish club Villarreal, will spend the next season in England with EPL club Hull. “First match is against Chelsea subject to a work permit *wink* *wink*,” announced the 19-year-old on his Twitter page.