Category: Soccer America Daily

[GOLD CUP] Group play at the Gold Cup concludes with games Friday-Sunday. Saturday’s USA-Haiti at Gillette Stadium is — rare for a doubleheader involving the host team — the opening game of the Group B twinbill and available on Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura (kickoff: 7 pm ET). For the complete Gold Cup television schedule …

[MLS PREDICTIONS] Of the six games in Week 17, only Toronto’s visit to San Jose matches teams from different conferences as the battle for points intensifies.

[MOVIE WATCH] Soccer has a rich tradition in film, so it’s only natural that a film festival has been dedicated to the Beautiful Game. Organized by Rachel Markus and Greg Lalas, the Kicking & Screening International Soccer Film Festival will take place at five locations in New York over five days, beginning Tuesday. It opens with perhaps with one of the best documentaries ever made about soccer, French filmmaker Stephane Meunier‘s behind-the-scenes look at the 1998 World Cup championship team, “Les Yeux dans les Bleus.”

[GOLD CUP] Mexico makes a rare prime-time appearance on Univision when it faces Panama Thursday in Houston. For the complete Gold Cup television schedule …

[WPS] A rare midday afternoon game saw the Los Angeles Sol lose for the first time in 12 games when the second-place Saint Louis Athletica defeated the runaway Women’s Professional Soccer leaders, 1-0, at the Home Depot Center.

[USA-HONDURAS] A dramatic comeback for Santino Quaranta turned his into a starring role, yet in what amounted to a cameo appearance Benny Feilhaber nearly stole the show Wednesday night at RFK Stadium in the second Gold Cup match for the USA.

[USA-HONDURAS REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players and comments on their performance in their 2-0 win over Honduras in the Gold Cup …

[U.S. REACTION] Coach Bob Bradley talks about Santino Quaranta‘s special evening, Freddy Adu‘s return to Benfica, Chad Marshall‘s role on defense and how his young team handled the Honduran challenge. For more from the U.S. locker room …

[GOLD CUP] Former Florida prep star Fabrice Noel and Puerto Rico Islander teammate James Marcelin scored for Haiti in its 2-0 win over Caribbean rival Grenada in Wednesday’s other Group B game at the Gold Cup.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Oguchi Onyewu‘s signing with AC Milan is an example of being in the right place at the right time. For the last year and a half, Onyewu has been linked with dozens of clubs big and small. But instead of lowly English Premier League club Birmingham City, rumored as recently as last month to have wrapped up a deal with the U.S. national team defender, it’s AC Milan that won the Gooch sweepstakes, signing the free agent to a three-year contract.

[USA-HONDURAS] The site and the names have changed but once again the U.S. and Honduras will play an important soccer match in a stadium rife with history.

[GOLD CUP] Canada has played miserably in World Cup qualifying in recent competitions but the Gold Cup is another matter. The 2007 semifinalists rolled to their second straight win in arguably the toughest group at the 2009 Gold Cup, beating El Salvador, 1-0. Hexagonal leader Costa Rica rebounded from its 2-1 loss to El Salvador with a 1-0 win over Jamaica in Tuesday’s other Group A game in Columbus, Ohio.

[GOLD CUP] Wednesday’s USA-Honduras match will kick off at 9 pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura. For the complete Gold Cup television schedule …

[U.S. OPEN CUP] Three of the four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinalists will be MLS teams following completion of the quarterfinal round.

[WORLD CUP 2018 BID] Robert Kraft, a founding investor of Major League Soccer, is the latest addition to the board of directors of the USA Bid Committee seeking the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Best known as the owner of the NFL powerhouse New England Patriots, Kraft was influential in bringing the 1994 World Cup to Foxboro Stadium and has owned MLS’s New England Revolution since its launch in 1996.

[TELEVISION] It’s time to say goodbye to ESPN America in Britain and say hello to ESPN. In the wake of its acquisition of rights to broadcast 46 Premier League matches in the 2009-10 season, ESPN will launch the new network on Aug. 3.

[U.S. WOMEN] U.S. women’s national team coach Pia Sundhage named 18 WPS players and three collegians for matches against Canada July 19 at Marina Auto Stadium in Rochester, N.Y., and July 22 at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C. For the U.S. roster …

[MAKING A LIST] Anton Peterlin, who signed with English Premier League club out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is the latest player to move from the college ranks last season to a club abroad.

[COLOMBIA] Javier Florez of Colombian team Atletico Junior was released on bail after being arrested on charges that he shot to death a fan who had taunted him after a key loss at Once Caldas in the Copa Mustang.

[MLS] Sooner or later, Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan will be heading to Denmark. Agent Patrick McCabe confirmed Monday that Danish Superliga club Randers has reached an agreement to employ the 21-year-old starting in January, following expiration of his current MLS contract.

[MLS] Canadian international midfielder Julian de Guzman confirmed on a radio show Monday that Toronto FC has bid aggressively for his services.

[GOLD CUP] The Gold Cup continues Tuesday with a doubleheader at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The Jamaica-Costa Rica and El Salvador-Canada games will be both televised on Spanish-language television. For the complete Gold Cup television schedule …