Category: Soccer America Daily

For the week’s national televised games: https://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562137445

The Libertadores Cup could feature an all-Brazilian final, as was the case last year when Sao Paulo downed Atletico Paranaense. Hoping to prevent that scenario are Mexico’s Chivas Guadalajara and Paraguay’s Libertad. Guadalajara takes a 1-0 deficit from its first-leg home semifinal loss to Sao Paulo. In the group stage, Guadalajara beat Sao Paulo at […]

Evo Morales, Bolivia’s President, is expected to be on injured reserve for two to three days after suffering a broken nose in a soccer game between the Presidential Squad and the Guerrilleros de la Independencia from the city of Cochabamba. Morales took the hit while fouled by the opposing team’s goalkeeper. Abad Rocha, the goalkeeper, […]

The Spanish media report that Brazilian forward Robinho and defensive midfielder Thomas Gravesen came to blows during a practice in the team’s Austria training camp. Robinho, victim of a fierce tackle by the Danish hard man, retaliated and the players had to be separated by other teammates. Coach Fabio Capello sent both to the locker […]

U.S. Soccer invited more than 120 players to an Under-14 Boys’ National Team Identification Camp in Concord, Mass., July 30-Aug. 5. The camp is run by Coach Manny Schellscheidt. View the roster at: https://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562137451

In round-of-16 U.S. Open Cup play, the Los Angeles Galaxy won, 2-0, over Dallas’ FC Roma, which had become the first amateur team to beat a fully professionally club in U.S. Cup history when it defeated Chivas USA in the last round. Quavas Kirk and Alan Gordon scored for the defending Open Cup champ Los […]

Los Angeles’ Landon Donovan (hamstring strain) and Colorado’s Pablo Mastroeni (knee sprain) have been scratched from the MLS All-Star team that faces Chelsea on Saturday (6:30 p.m. ET, Live on ESPN). They have been replaced by midfielder Ricardo Clark and defender Eddie Robinson of the Houston Dynamo.

"I believe the game is improving in the U.S., but I think more important than having a player in Chelsea for American [soccer] is to have improvements in your own league.” — Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, who will get a look at MLS’s best when the English Premier League champ faces the MLS All-Stars on […]

For the week’s Libertadores Cup games and more: https://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562137445

As MLS takes its All-Star break, Chivas USA striker Ante Razov leads the goalscorers’ race with 12 goals. This marks the sixth season in which Razov, who joined the league during its inaugural season in 1996, has scored more than 10 goals. With 96 career regular-season goals, he’s third in league history behind two other […]

Cafu, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaka, Emerson and Ronaldo are among the players not chosen by new Brazil coach Dunga for the team’s first game under his guidance, an Aug. 16 friendly at Norway. "I’m only going to talk about the players who are here," Dunga told the press upon the selection, which includes eight uncapped players. […]

The Argentine federation has struck a deal that will allow Boca Juniors coach Alfio “El Coco” Basile to leave the club and take the national team helm Sept. 15. Basile coached Argentina at the 1994 World Cup, where it fell to Romania in the round of 16 after Diego Maradona was kicked out for failing […]

“It is a worldwide search and we plan on having a new head coach in place by October or November.” — U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati‘s update on the U.S. national team’s head coach position. The Federation announced on July 14 that Bruce Arena‘s contract would not be renewed when it expired at the […]

For the week’s Libertadores Cup, German League Cup, MLS. Mexican and W-League action: https://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562137445

Akram Ahmed Salman has resigned as coach of the Iraqi national team after receiving death threats against him and his family. In early July, the chairman of Iraq’s National Olympic Committee and at least 30 other sports officials were kidnapped during a sports conference in Baghdad. The wrestling national team coach, a Sunni, was murdered […]

Amy Vermeulen scored a hat trick to lead the Ottawa Fury to a fourth straight W-League semifinal appearance as it upset the defending champion New Jersey Wildcats 3-2 Sunday to join the host Vancouver Whitecaps, the Central Conference champion Charlotte Lady Eagles and the Seattle Sounders Saints, who won the Western Conference tournament, in the […]

Arsenal FC won its third straight national title when it captured the under-17 boys group at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships on Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa. Eclipse Select’s bid for a third straight title ended when it was eliminated in a shootout on Friday in the under-18 girls group. So Cal United (U-15 […]

Natasha Kai, 23, scored her fifth goal for the USA since debuting for the national team earlier this year to help the USA down Canada, 2-0, in a friendly on Sunday. Kai, a Hawaii product, now has five goals in eight games. She finished a rebound off her own shot for her strike late in […]

In his first preseason appearance for his English Premier League club, Claudio Reyna scored the only goal in Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Bradford. Reyna, who captained the USA at the 2006 World Cup, had injured his knee in its loss to Ghana. Manchester City faces champion Chelsea in its English Premier League opener Aug. […]

Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo, who ejected England’s Wayne Rooney during its quarterfinal loss to Portugal, is quoted in the British media as saying, “[Rooney] was complaining all the time, always coming close to me saying ‘referee’ this and ‘referee’ that. Protests and more protests … he reminded me of my kids!” Elizondo red-carded Rooney after […]

By Mike Woitalla YOUNG MIDFIELDERS SHINE. Playing its eighth game of the month and without injured attackers Carlos Ruiz, Roberto Mina and Ronnie O’Brien, FC Dallas still managed an emphatic win, thanks much to the midfied play of Arturo Alvarez, 21, and Ramon Nunez, 20. Nunez scored twice and assisted on Kenny Cooper’s goal in […]

"He says he’s a Red, but they all say that when they sign, don’t they?" — Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard on the club’s new signing, Craig Bellamy, who claims to be a lifelong Liverpool fan. (BBC)

For all the week’s MLS and Libertadores Cup action: https://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562137424

The powerhouse Dallas Texans Red recovered from their opening game loss to beat the Classic FC Bandolero, 5-2, in the Under-18 boys group at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. The Texans, who are playing without star Jonathan Villanueva, who joined the U.S. U-18s in Northern Ireland after a two-week tryout […]

After Italian referee Anna De Toni nullified for offside what North Korean players thought was their late equalizer against China, three North Korean players assaulted De Toni and her assistants. Goalkeeper Hye Yong Han kicked and pushed De Toni while her teammates, Son Kyong Sun and Song Jung Sun, threw plastic water bottles and other […]