Category: Soccer America Daily

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Young American Eric Lichaj has earned starts in back-to-back games for English club Aston Villa at right back at the Peace Cup in Spain.

[OFF THE POST] After referee He Zhibiao ejected three Tianjin FC players in its 3-1 loss to Beijing in a third-round Chinese Cup He had to run to safety.

[MLS] An All-Star Game is a spectacle, and as such the wisdom of using penalty kicks to decide an exhibition does make some sense, since entertainment is the first priority. Fans at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, ran through the gamut of emotions, facial expressions and gestures, and most of them left disappointed at the result. As bizarre as it might have seemed for Everton players to step up to the penalty spot after playing 90 minutes in a friendly, at least a few – and not the least, U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard – got it right. After a 1-1 tie in regulation, Howard saved three shots as Everton took the shootout, 4-3, to end a five-match winning streak posted in All-Star action against foreign teams.

[USL-1 TEAMS OF THE WEEK] Guyana star Gregory Richardson, who began the 2009 season with MLS’s Colorado Rapids, scored three goals in the Carolina RailHawks’ 4-0 win over Miami and Steward Ceus earned shutouts for the Charlotte Eagles in a 3-0 win at Maryland and 0-0 tie at Baltimore to earn USL First and Second Division Player of the Week honors, respectively. For all the Team of the Week selections …

[TELEVISION WATCH] Never heard of mun2? If you’re a U.S. soccer fan, you’ll need to find it on your dial if you hope to watch Mexico-USA on English-language television. Check here to find where mun2 is available …

[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer has signed FluMist as its fourth national sponsor. FluMist, is a nasal spray flu vaccine for eligible individuals manufactured by MedImmune will be the presenting sponsor of the 2009 WPS Championship and will present the Defender of the Year award at the 2009 WPS All-Star Game.

[WOMEN’S WATCH] Saint Louis Athletic defender Sara Larsson will be headed to the 2009 European Women’s Championship after the WPS season. She is the only one of four WPS Swedes called up by Coach Thomas Dennerby for the finals next month in Finland.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] One former Boston College star lit up Swedish soccer, and another ex-Eagle is following in his footsteps. After U.S. international Charlie Davies, who parlayed a solid stint at Hammarby into a transfer to French club Sochaux, Floridian Alejandro Bedoya celebrated his first two goals with Orebro, scoring both goals after coming on in the 78th minute of Monday’s 2-2 tie with BK Hacken.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] D.C. United generated a flurry of shots but only one goal as it tied Luis Angel Firpo of El Salvador, 1-1, in the opening game of their two-match Concacaf Champions League series Tuesday at RFK. Jaime Moreno converted a penalty kick after Mario Benitez had stripped Greg Janicki of the ball to score in the 26th minute.

[OFF THE POST] Tottenham striker Darren Bent had just settled into his seat when he was told to leave the plane and collect his bags. Instead of traveling with the English Premier League team on a preseason tour of China, Bent was sent to Sunderland.

[MLS] All coaches are competitive, so Houston head honcho Dominic Kinnear doesn’t need any extra motivation for the annual exhibition known as the MLS All-Star Game. But there is a streak on the line. Pitting the best of MLS, with a few exceptions, against a foreign team on five previous occasions has produced five victories, and that’s the streak that’s at stake Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2, Galavision) at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, against English Premier League club Everton.

[U.S. SOCCER] In a teleconference call with reporters Tuesday, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati touched on myriad topics, including the national team’s recent performances to the visit of FIFA president Sepp Blatter

[WORLD CUP 2010] The last time the USA traveled to Mexico City for a World Cup qualifier, on Easter of 2005, the Mexicans feared they couldn’t sell out Azteca Stadium and pleaded through the media for “12th Man” support. Apparently thanks to Mexico’s 5-0 rout of the USA last Sunday in the Gold Cup, enthusiasm for El Tri is high and Azteca Stadium is already sold out to its 105,000 capacity for the Aug. 12 qualifier.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Benny Feilhaber, one of the players who left the U.S. national team during the Gold Cup to return to his European club, continued his outstanding summer ball with perhaps his best game yet for Danish club AGF Aarhus. He finished off a brilliant maneuver with his first goal as a pro — the third goal in a 3-2 win at Randers Monday that gave it six points and first place in the 2009-10 Danish SuperLigaen after two rounds.

[OFF THE POST] During AC Milan’s 2-0 loss to archrival Inter in a World Football Challenge game last weekend in Foxboro, Mass., referee Jorge Gonzalez showed Ronaldinho a red card when he meant to display the yellow for dissent. Gonzalez quickly made the correction and there were laughs all around.

[WORLD CUP 2018/2022] U.S. President Barack Obama met with FIFA President Sepp Blatter Monday to discuss soccer, in particular the U.S. bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Blatter reportedly joked that while Obama, who was presented with soccer balls for daughters and tried juggling a ball, wasn’t ready to make the U.S. national team that played Brazil in the recent Confederations Cup final, he could have made the team that lost to Mexico, 5-0, in the Gold Cup final …

[WPS] With the July 31 deadline approaching for all-star balloting, Saint Louis Athletica goalie Hope Solo led all players with her name on 35 percent of submitted ballots for the WPS all-star team that will face Swedish champion Umea IK at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo., on Aug. 30. Other leaders, by position, are defender Heather Mitts, midfielder Lori Chalupny and forward Marta.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] With the Concacaf Gold Cup out of the way, the confederation’s club competition resumes with three MLS teams and one USL entry involved in the Champions’ League preliminary round that consists of eight home-and-home series. The Columbus Crew and the Houston Dynamo begin play next month when the group stage kicks off. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney explains the path MLS and USL teams must take to be crowned champion of the region of North and Central American and the Caribbean.

Did the embarrassing 5-0 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final signal that the players Coach Bob Bradley tested in the tournament won’t be back for the remaining five World Cup qualifying games? Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney assesses the U.S. Gold Cup players and shows what the 23-man U.S. roster for the 2010 World Cup could like.

[MLS] Though it has struggled to finalize a stadium deal, the Houston Dynamo has done just about everything else right since joining MLS prior to the 2006 season when the league approved a move from San Jose. Its success on the field and at the gate has yielded hosting rights for the 2010 All-Star Game, as announced by Commissioner Don Garber Monday. “I don’t think that people really expected that Houston, Texas would be a strong, powerful and successful MLS market,” Garber said. “It’s turned out to be one of our best.”

[WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE] Sunday was a big day for English club Chelsea. Captain John Terry confirmed he was staying at Chelsea, spurning an offer from Manchester City, and the Blues clinched the World Football Challenge with a 2-0 win over Mexico’s Club America before 57,229 fans at Jerry World — Jerry Jones‘ new Dallas Cowboys Stadium dubbed a stadium like no other in the world by Chelsea star Andriy Shevchenko.

[GOLD CUP] A sign of what was to come occurred in stoppage time of the first half, before a five-goal Mexican onslaught buried the USA in the Gold Cup final Sunday at Giants Stadium in front of a pro-Mexico crowd of 79,156. After a U.S. free kick, Mexico countered, and only Jay Heaps got back in time as Giovanni Dos Santos and Alberto Medina swept forward. Medina, who’d been threatening but hardly fearsome on the left flank, dragged his shot wide of the far post.

[USA-MEXICO REPORT CARD] A horrid second half during which it conceded five goals left the U.S. team with marks ranging from poor to terrible in its 5-0 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players and comments on their performances.