Category: Soccer America Daily

[MLS PREDICTION] Last season runner-up New York aims to hit the .500 mark when it travels to Kansas City for ESPN2’s MLS Game of the Week on Thursday. The Wizards, who lost their first two games of the season, hope to extend their undefeated streak to four.

[MLS] In cold, blustery conditions at Toronto’s BMO Field, and with both teams a bit fatigued from playing the previous weekend, neither Toronto FC nor Chivas USA had much good soccer in them, yet the host did get enough luck to win, 1-0, in front of 19,915 fans.

[U.S. OPEN CUP] Defending cup champ D.C. United downed FC Dallas, 2-0, on Wednesday in a play-in thanks to goals by Fred and Brandon Barklage. D.C. United will play the winner of the April 29 San Jose-New York for a spot in the U.S. Open Cup proper.

[UNDER-17 CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIP] The USA, which faces Canada Thursday, opened its campaign to qualify for the U-17 World Cup with a 5-0 win over Cuba on Tuesday. For video of the Cuba win …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Iran has its third national team coach in less than a month — and its Afshin Ghotbi, an Iranian-born and U.S.-educated coach who has mostly recently been coaching in Iran for Persepolis in 2007 and 2008.

[UNDER-17 CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIP] Mexico, winner of the Under-17 World Cup in 2005 but unable to qualify for the final two years later, very much means business at the 2009 Concacaf U-17 Championship, opening with a 7-0 over Trinidad & Tobago before 13,333 fans.

[ENGLAND] In a preview of next month’s FA Cup final, American Tim Howard was again in fine form for Everton as it held Chelsea to settle a 0-0 tie that all but knocked the Blues out of contention for the Premier League. Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink admitted as much after the result, along with leader Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Portsmouth, left Chelsea six points behind United, which has a game in hand.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Atlante is on course to its Concacaf title since 1983 and a place in the 2009 Club World Cup  in the United Arab Emirates thanks to a 2-0 win over Mexican rival Cruz Azul on the road in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final.

[USL-1 TEAM OF WEEK] Miami’s Diego Serna as the USL First Division Player of the Week. the Colombian celebrated his return to South Florida with a goal and assist in the Blue’s 3-1 win over Cleveland. For the Team of the Week …

[NSCAA] Jim Sheldon, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s first full-time employee, will retire as executive director, effective May 1.

[MLS PREDICTION] The heaviest week of play so far this season in MLS starts Wednesday when Chivas USA plays at Toronto. Week 6 features a 10-match block of games that will require several teams to play their second and third matches in spans of seven or eight days, and one team to make one of its longest treks of the season. Twice.

[SPAIN] Angel Torres, president of Spanish club Getafe, says Real Madrid’s defender Pepe should be suspended for at least 10 games for violently kicking Javier Casquero twice while the Getafe player was face down on the ground. In fact, 10 games would be lenient.

[UNDER-17 CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIP] The USA took a giant step toward returning to the Under-17 World Cup with a 5-0 win over Cuba on Tuesday in their opening Group A game at the Concacaf Under-17 championship in Tijuana, Mexico. John McInerney had two goals and two assists, while Luis Gil, the youngest player on the U.S. team, had a goal and two assists.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] In his first season in France, Carlos Bocanegra will have a chance to win a trophy as Rennes moved into the final of the French Cup with a 1-0 win at Grenoble on Tuesday. The shutout was the fifth in five games — four against Ligue 1 teams — for Rennes, which earned a place in the French Cup final for the first time in 38 years.

[ENGLAND] A week earlier, Liverpool played to a 4-4 tie with Chelsea that knocked it out of the UEFA Champions League. On Tuesday, the Reds tied Arsenal, 4-4, in a wild match that saw Gunner Andrey Arshavin score four goals and seemingly ended Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes.

[GERMANY] A Munich tribunal dismissed Juergen Klinsmann‘s $130,000 suit against the newspaper Tageszeitung for depicting the Bayern Munich coach as a crucified Jesus in a photo montage under the headline “Always look on the bright side of life” (the song title from a Monty Python film). It ruled “It was not at all a real crucifixion,” but satire.

[MAKING A LIST] After five weeks, 12 rookies have played more than 200 minutes. Three rookies — Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles) and Darrius Barnes (New England) — have played ever minute for their respective teams.

[MLS] Expansion club Seattle leads the league in attendance while the biggest disappoint is in Dallas, where Pizza Hut Park is drawing fewer than 10,000 per game. Leaguewide attendance is slightly down from last season’s 15,437 average at this point last year.

[SCOUTING REPORT] Wilmer Cabrera‘s Americans open against Caribbean champion Cuba Tuesday at the Concacaf U-17 Championship in Tijuana, Mexico. Canada, loaded with players from the Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps youth systems, and Honduras, featuring 15-year-old phenom Anthony Lozano, also stand in the way of the USA’s bid to keep intact its record of being only country to have qualified for every U-17 World Cup since FIFA initiated the tournament in 1985.

[ENGLAND] The turf at the old Wembley Stadium was considered the model of the perfectly manicured surface. The turf at the new Wembley Stadium has been relaid five times and was called “laughable” after a weekend of FA Cup play.

[MLS TEAM OF THE WEEK] Chicago’s Cuauhtemoc Blanco, 36, got his first start of the season and provided one of Week 5’s best performances. He helped 36-year-old teammate Brian McBride notch a pair against Kansas City. Ben Olsen, 31, who played just one game last season because of injury, has started four so far in 2009 and was the hero of D.C. United’s 1-1 tie with New England. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney picks the top performers from last week’s action.

[USL-1] The Puerto Rico Islanders gained revenge for their loss to the Vancouver Islanders in last year’s USL-1 championship with a 2-1 victory on Saturday at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium. Nicholas Addlery, who played the Whitecaps last season, scored both goals for Puerto Rico. Carolina took the early lead in the USL-1 with its second win, a 1-0 victory over Rochester. In its debut, expansion Austin tied Minnesota, 1-1, at home, while Cleveland, with Real Salt Lake keeper Chris Seitz playing on loan in goal, fell in its USL-1 debut at Miami FC, 3-1.