Category: Soccer America Daily

“I’ve been a fool. I just hope others don’t let alcohol cloud their judgment like I did. It’s embarrassing.” — Darron Brough, 41, a millionaire and director of a British metal manufacturer who was among 58 fans convicted of hooligan crimes for their involvement in a riot following a 2004 Aston Villa-West Brom game. Brough […]

In qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, the fifth-place South American country will face the fourth-place nation from Concacaf, FIFA has decided. Last time around, Australia (Oceania) beat Uruguay (South America), and Trinidad & Tobago (Concacaf) beat Bahrain (Asia) in playoffs to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Also during FIFA’s executive committee meeting, President […]

Bob Ganlser, who head coached the U.S. 1990 World Cup team and the 2000 MLS champion Kansas City, will be the assistant coach to Mo Johnston with 2007 MLS expansion club Toronto FC. Johnston was a player on Gansler’s Kansas City Wizards. “I am very excited to be working with Bob again”, said Johnston, a […]

By Ridge Mahoney All of a sudden, it seems, American attackers are drawing attention overseas. U.S. international Josh Wolff has signed with 1860 Munich of the German Second Division following a brief trial, Nate Jaqua has tryouts lined up in several European countries, Edson Buddle is looking for work in Scandanavia, and Clint Dempsey has […]

Manchester United, Arsenal, Porto and Lille grabbed the four remaining spots in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SCOREBOARD Wednesday, Dec. 6 Group E Dynamo Kiev 2 (Shatskikh 13, 27) Real Madrid 2 (Ronaldo 86 pen. 88). Lyon 1 (Diarra 12) Steaua Bucharest 1 (Dica 2). Group F FC Copenhagen 3 […]

Nine repeat selections highlight the 78 players selected to the 2006 NSCAA/adidas Boys High School All-America Team. The players making their second appearance are defender Patrick Sigler (Cardinal Newman HS/Windsor, Calif.); midfielders Ryan Aweida (Broomfield HS, Colo.), Wilber Bonilla (Brentwood HS, N.Y.), Eric Cava (Broadneck HS/Annapolis, Md.), Andrew Duran (Lincoln-Way HS/Mokena, Ill.), Bryan Martinez (West […]

Luton coach Mike Newell, hoping to inspire his struggling team, pinned the famous Rudyard Kipling poem “If” on the locker room wall. “But I don’t think any of the players could make head or tail of it,” he said. “I left it up for an hour but took it down before it got defaced."  Striker […]

By Ridge Mahoney Sometime before Christmas, U.S. Soccer will announce the hiring of Juergen Klinsmann as its national team coach and thus will conclude months of anticlimax. Much federation business has been on hold while President Sunil Gulati and Klinsmann have negotiated, bargained and dickered, but not preparations for the men’s under-20 team, which plays […]

“He’s [Cristiano Ronaldo] the most fouled player in the country without question. All the statistics are there. What is more serious in our game? Preventing the best players from playing or going on for three days about a dive that wasn’t a dive?” — Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson responds to accusations from Middlesbrough boss […]

Barcelona quickly put to rest about doubts about whether it would become the first defending champion to be eliminated in the group phase of the UEFA Champions League. The Catalan club got goals from Ronaldinho (free kick under the leaping wall) and Eidur Gudjohnsen (header off Ludovic Giuly cross) in the first 19 minutes and […]

Nine players repeated as 2006 NSCAA/adidas Girls High School All-Americans, including junior forward Tiffany McCarty (Washington’s St. John’s High School), who earned the award for the second consecutive year. The remaining eight repeaters all are seniors or graduated last spring: midfielders Hannah Cerrone (Ketcham H.S./Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Bianca D’Agostino (Loomis Chaffee School/Windsor, Conn.), Kate Macauley […]

Janice Keating, a Modesto (Calif.) city councilwoman, was ejected from her daughter’s U-14 game for using foul language while questioning the referee’s decisions. “I’m a normal parent at a game,” Keating told the Modesto Bee. “Was that embarrassing? Yes, it was. Do I regret that? Absolutely.” The 24-year-old referee, Amanda Grover, who did not know […]

By Ridge Mahoney The 2007 season is four months away and already Colorado has a huge advantage over most of the teams that have moved into new stadiums. Unlike the laborious road streaks undertaken by Columbus (1999), Los Angeles (2003), and Chicago (2006), Colorado opens its new stadium with the season opener April 7 against […]

“OSAA has asked that during the playoffs the home school escort the refs to their car or the locker room as the case may be.” — Patrick Duffy of the Oregon School Activities Association, which has instituted the security requirement after incidents in which high school soccer referees have been chased, threatened or assaulted by […]

The all-tournament teams from the Super Y-League’s recent North American finals were announced. The following were the divisional MVPS: U17 Boys MVP: Ben Foerstner H.C. United U17 Girls MVP: Jennifer Stoltenberg – West Coast FC U16 Boys MVP: Edvin Worley – Schulz Academy U16 Girls MVP: Emily Ohlhaver – Wolfpack Blue U15 Boys MVP: Oscar […]

The U.S. under-17 girls national team will head off for an 11-day trip Dec. 8-18 to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Coach Erica Walsh will take 18 players on the trip afor three matches against the Argentina U-20s (Dec. 13), the senior Argentina national team (Dec. 15) and a final match against either the Argentina U-17s or […]

German leader Werder Bremen will look to pull one of the biggest upsets in the history of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday when it plays at defending champion Barcelona. A Werder win or tie will send it through to the round of 16 and eliminate La Liga leader. Werder isn’t about to abandon its […]

Steve Cherundolo scored his first goal of the season for Hannover 96 in a 1-0 win at newly promoted Energie Cottbus. Hannover has climbed from last place to 12th. The headed goal by the 5-foot-6 right back was the 27-year-old’s fourth in 131 Bundesliga games. Cherundolo was also Kicker Magazine’s man of the game. Benny […]

“Quite simply, it is true that I can be a pig. It is not a lie to say that. Sometimes, I feel that I am in the right even when I am wrong.” — Arsenal’s French striker Thierry Henry. (BBC)

Guadalajara won a special playoff edition of Mexico’s Superclásico when Chivas beat Club America, 2-0, on aggregate (2-0 at home and 0-0 away) to reach the final of the Torneo Apertura. Guadalajara faces Toluca, which beat Pachuca, 1-0, on a goal by Uruguayan Vicente Sanchez to win its series, 2-1. Chivas have not won one […]

U.S. international Heather O’Reilly went out as she began her college career with a national championship, leading North Carolina to its 18th NCAA women’s championship Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Notre Dame at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. O’Reilly, who won an NCAA title as a freshman in […]

UC Santa Barbara defied history to beat UCLA, 2-1, in the final of the Men’s College Cup Sunday and win its first NCAA Division I men’s championship. The Gauchos’ victory over UCLA was their first since 1982 and only the second in 33 meetings. UCLA came into the final the favorite after its 4-0 demolition […]

Ramon Morales and Omar Bravo scored for Chivas Guadalajara to down its archrival Club America in the first leg of their Mexican League semifinal on Thursday. They meet again on Sunday (TV: Univision, 9 pm ET). Pachuca, a day after using reserves in a 1-1 tie with Toluca in the other semifinal, dominated much of […]

“He’d be good for the U.S. boys.” — Pele, during a visit to Germany, on Juergen Klinsmann. (Reuters)

Six venues have been chosen for the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup June 6-24): Soldier Field (Chicago) Semifinal doubleheader Final Gillette Stadium (Foxboro, Mass.) First-round doubleheader Quarterfinal double-header Reliant Stadium (Houston) First-round doubleheader Quarterfinal double-header Orange Bowl (Miami) Three first-round doubleheaders Giants Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.) Two first-round doubleheaders Home Depot Center (Carson, Calif.) Two first-round […]