Category: Soccer America Daily

The English Premier League’s top-of-the-table clash Sunday between first-place Manchester United and second-place Chelsea at Old Trafford decided nothing as the teams played to a 1-1 tie, but Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was all smiles after the game. Louis Saha put United ahead in the first half, but Chelsea equalized in the 69th minute when […]

“Football’s a difficult business, and aren’t they [the players] prima donnas?” — Queen Elizabeth while knighting English Premier League chairman David Richards. (UPI)

American midfielder Benny Feilhaber, 21, who played the second half of Hamburg SV’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal in Champions League on Tuesday and came close to scoring, could make his sixth Bundesliga appearance when HSV takes on Bayern Munich on Saturday (TV: 9:25 am ET on Gol TV). Hamburg is trying to climb out of […]

Blackburn’s American goalkeeper Brad Friedel made a key save on Feyernoord striker Joonas Kolkka to preserve a goalless tie that sends the English Premier league club to the final 32 of the UEFA Cup. But Thursday’s UEFA Cup action was marred by an incident in Paris in which a policeman shot dead a Paris St […]

Sixteen years after its victory at the inaugural Women’s World Cup, the USA will return to China next year to compete in the fifth FIFA world championship for women. Women’s Gold Cup Semifinal Summaries Abby Wambach made sure of that, scoring twice to lead the USA to a 2-0 victory over Mexico Wednesday in the […]

English club Chelsea lost to Werder Bremen, 1-0, in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday and fell into a first-place tie with the German club in Group A, but the Blues clinched a berth in the round of 16 by virtue of UEFA’s tiebreaking rules. Per Mertesacker scored the only goal in the 17th minute […]

History was made at the 2006 Super Y-League North American Finals on Tuesday at Tampa’s Ed Radice Complex. The Chicago Magic became the first club to win three championships in the same year, while Schulz Academy’s U-16 boys made it three in a row. Clubs from Southern California’s Coast Soccer League also came through with […]

“There are ongoing discussions with the league. Claudio is very interested in coming to MLS at some point, and in particular to the Red Bulls.” — Lyle Yorks of Proactive Sports Management, which represents former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, 33, the Manchester City midfielder who has spent his entire 12-year professional career with top tier […]

By Ridge Mahoney Having refuted rumors that he’ll be hired as the U.S. national team assistant coach under Argentine Jose Pekerman, Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo has embarked on a scouting trip to South America. Earlier this month he paid a visit to FIFA offices in Switzerland to discuss his dispute with the Haitian soccer federation, […]

Celtic reached the final 16 in the UEFA Champions League when it upset Manchester United, 1-0, Tuesday to clinch first or second place in Group F. The Scottish club came out ahead in a thrilling ending at Celtic Park. Japanese Shunsuke Nakamura scored with a free kick eight minutes from time, then Celtic’s 26-year-old Polish […]

By Ridge Mahoney The U.S. women’s team has played 20 games this year without being beaten, yet none of those games has greater importance than the Gold Cup semifinal against Mexico Wednesday at Home Depot Center (Fox Soccer Channel, 10 pm ET). By winning, the USA clinches a spot in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World […]

Glasgow Celtic hosts Manchester United on Tuesday (TV: ESPN2, 2:30 pm ET). In their first Group F encounter, Man U beat the Scottish champions, 3-2. Man U leads the group after four games, but comes off an embarrassing loss to last-place FC Copenhagen. In Group E, Lyon (12 pts.) and Real Madrid (9 pts.), both […]

The English Premier League hopes to convince FIFA to reconsider its stubborn stance on the use of video replay to aid officials. Keith Hackett, head of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, is charged with presenting a proposal to FIFA in January supporting the use of video technology primarily to help referees make decisions on […]

$1.4 billion What Real Madrid will earn from selling TV rights to its games through 2013 to production company Grupo Mediapro in what is believed to be a record deal for a sports team, according to Bloomberg news. $1.3 billion What Mediapro paid Barcelona for TV rights for seven years. 90 percent Portion soccer pay-per-view […]

“The other guy was probably hungrier than Paddy.” — Sheffield United coach Neil Warnock on his goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, whose left eye brow was bitten off in a 3:00 a.m. brawl at an Indian restaurant. The Irish goalkeeper was reportedly fighting with a “pal” who boasted he’d had an affair with Kenny’s wife. (The Sun)

The U.S. under-14 boys national team will participate in the US Youth Soccer ODP Thanksgiving Interregional Nov. 23-27 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. U.S. coach Manny Schellscheidt and his five assistant coaches will split the 36 players on the roster into two teams – USA Grey and USA […]

A complaint by France coach Raymond Domenech that the ball boys in Glasgow took they own sweet time getting the ball back in play while France lost 1-0 to Scotland Oct. 7 in European Championship qualifying was upheld by UEFA. "Before the game I knew that the Scottish fans and team were a nation who […]

Californian Kamani Hill, 20, has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with German First Division club Wolfsburg with an option for an additional year. “He’s very far along for his age,” said Wolfsburg coach Klaus Augenthaler. “We will do everything we can to make him successful for us.” Augenthaler, 1990 World Cup champion as a player […]

American defender Jay DeMerit, who scored in the playoff game that clinched promotion for Watford last May, scored his first English Premier League goal in Watford’s 2-1 loss to Portsmouth. But DeMerit, who scored five goals at the second tier, was called for the foul that gave Portsmouth the penalty kick that Lomana Lua Lua […]

Claudio Reyna‘s appearance in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Fulham marked the former U.S. captain’s 100th English Premier League game. He joins goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller, and forward Brian McBride in the group of Americans who have hit the century mark in England’s top tier. Reyna started his pro career in Germany in […]

“That is not true. I have a contract with Colorado [of Major League Soccer] … Unfortunately, it’s just a good rumor.” — Fernando Clavijo, responding to reports in Spanish-language Los Angeles-based daily La Opinion that he has agreed to terms with U.S. Soccer to be assistant national team coach to Argentine Jose Pekerman, whom La […]

Mexico defeated Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0, at Tropical Park in Miami Sunday to set up a date with the USA Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Women’s Gold Cup. A berth in the 2007 Women’s World Cup will be on the line when the USA faces Mexico at the Home Depot Center in Carson, […]

Sao Paulo clinched its fourth Brazilian championship with two games to spare despite having to settle for a 1-1 tie at home against Atletico Paranaense on Sunday. Sao Paulo is eight points ahead of second-place Internacional with two games to play after Internacional lost, 1-0, at Parana. Rains delayed the Parana-Internacional game, so Sao Paulo […]

Iceland forward Eidur Gudjohnsen came up big for Barcelona, scoring two goals to help the Spanish champion maintain its La Liga lead with a 4-1 win at Real Mallorca 4-1 on Sunday. Barca is without strikers Samuel Eto’o, Javier Saviola and Lionel Messi, who are all injured, so the pressure has been on Gudjohnsen, who […]

“On this team, there are nine blacks out of the 11. Normally, there should only be three or four. That would be a reflection of our society. But if there are so many, it’s because the whites are useless.” — French politician Georges Freche on the French national team’s lineup. The statement by the president […]