Category: Soccer America Daily

[COACHING] Former England national team coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has bounced back from his unsuccessful stint as Mexico coach and landed at England fourth division (League Two) club Notts County, where he will be director of soccer.

[U.S. OPEN CUP] By beating Rochester Rhinos, 2-1, in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal Tuesday, D.C. United earned the right to host the final at RFK Stadium Sept. 2. Jaime Moreno converted a penalty kick and Boyzzz Khumalo struck a late winner at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md., to down the USL-1 Rhinos, which pushed their MLS opponents hard at times and equalized midway through the second half when striker Taiwo Atieno scored during a goalmouth scramble.

[MLS NUMBERS] Two teams are averaging more than 20,000 fans per game while two are below the 10,000 mark. For MLS attendance figures. …

[WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE] For its first game against its coach Jose Mourinho‘s former team since the Portuguese coach came to Italy, Inter Milan put on a stunningly lackadaisical performance. Chelsea strolled to a 2-0 win over the Italian champions Tuesday night before 81,224 fans at the Rose Bowl in a boost for the Blues’ new coach, Carlo Ancelotti, Mourinho’s archenemy during his days at AC Milan.

[U.S. OPEN CUP] The quest of Seattle to win a trophy in its expansion year took another step forward Tuesday when the Sounders rallied to beat Houston, 2-1, in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

[USL TEAMS OF THE WEEK] USL veteran David Hayes, whose goal earned the Portland Timbers a 1-1 tie at Miami FC and keep alive their unbeaten streak that they would extend to a record 15 games two nights later, and Cape Verdean Almira Barbosa, who scored three goals in a win and draw for the Western Mass Pioneers against Bermuda, earned the USL First Division and Second Division Player of the Week honors, respectively. For the USL-1 and USL-2 Teams of the Week.

[W-LEAGUE] The quest for the W-League title begins Wednesday when the Buffalo Flash, featuring Italian star Pamela Conti, hosts Quebec City Amiral at Orchard Park High School in a first-round divisional match. The conference championships will be held Friday-Sunday in three locations. For all the playoff action …

[MLS] Houston coach Dominic Kinnear picked three Dynamo players and two from Seattle to address the balance of power for the MLS All-Star team that plays Everton a week from Wednesday. Added to the original list of 11 starters from the Dynamo are goalie Pat Onstad, midfielder Brad Davis, and forward Brian Ching.

[GOLD CUP] Back and forth they go, and where it stops, nobody knows. Defender Michael Parkhurst, released from the U.S. Gold Cup team last week to attend preseason training in Denmark, has been recalled as cover for Jimmy Conrad, who suffered a possible concussion against Panama in a hard collision Saturday and left the match shortly before halftime. The USA faces Honduras again in the semifinals Thursday at Soldier Field

[OFF THE POST] Brazilian forward Marquinhos has been scolded by his Japanese club, Kashima Antlers, for taking his shorts off and putting them on properly after noticing he had them on backward shortly before kickoff of a game against Kawasaki Frontale. The brief disrobing in full view of the crowd upset club president Kazumi Ohigashi.

[MLS] David Beckham‘s confrontation with a fan during halftime of the Los Angeles Galaxy’s friendly with AC Milan on Sunday at the Home Depot has prompted the club to issue a statement from general manager and head coach Bruce Arena while the fan claimed Beckham challenged to come down to the field.

[TRANSFER WATCH] Despite a worldwide recession, European clubs are spending huge sums on the 2009 summer transfer market. Real Madrid has spent almost $300 million, while Manchester City has already spent over $100 million and its spending could reach $200 million by the end of August. Bayern Munich, Juventus, Lyon and Chelsea also have made deals that rank in the 2009 summer’s top 10 most expensive transfer deals. Here’s the list …

[TRANSFER WATCH] American-style player trades rarely take place in soccer, but Barcelona and Inter Milan have a blockbuster in the works: Inter will send Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barca in exchange for Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o and cash.

[SOUTH AMERICA] Mauricio Baldivieso, a few days shy of his 13th birthday, played the last nine minutes for Aurora in a 1-0 loss to La Paz in the Bolivian first division, making him the youngest player to make a pro debut in South America.

[SEATTLE SOUNDERS-CHELSEA] The Seattle Sounders FC, who lead MLS in attendance, drew a crowd of 65,289 fans for Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Chelsea — more than twice as large as they’ve drawn for any MLS game this season.

[U.S. WOMEN] Abby Wambach scored the 100th goal in her international career to give the USA a 1-0 win over Canada Sunday in her hometown of Rochester, N.Y. She became the fifth American to reach the century mark, joining Mia Hamm (158), Kristine Lilly (129), Michelle Akers (105) and Tiffeny Milbrett (100).

[USL-1] The Portland Timbers set a USL First Division record when they beat FC Miami, 3-0, Sunday to extend their unbeaten streak to 16 games, the longest single-season unbeaten streak ever.

Following wins by Chicago, D.C. United and Columbus, New England got a must-win victory in its bid to get back in contention in the Eastern Conference. Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Chivas USA tied Kansas City for fifth place, eight points behind the Fire and seven behind United and the Crew and six behind Toronto. For all the game summaries, conference standings and leading scorers …

[WPS] Kerri Hanks, the 2006 and 2008 Hermann Trophy winner at Notre Dame, scored her first goal since being traded from Saint Louis to Sky Blue, striking in stoppage time to give the New Jersey team a 1-0 win over Chicago and keep it in fourth place. The weekend’s other two games both ended in 1-0 wins for Washington over Saint Louis and Boston over FC Gold Pride.

[USA-PANAMA REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players and comments on their performance in their 2-1 quarterfinal win over Panama in the Gold Cup …

[GOLD CUP] Fitness and resolve propelled the U.S. through 120 minutes of play and numerous rugged incidents as it defeated Panama, 2-1, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Saturday night to earn a spot in the Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals.

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] Cuauhtemoc Blanco assisted and scored a beauty to keep Chicago in first place in the East. For last weekend’s MLS highlights. …