Category: Soccer America Daily

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING-SOUTH AMERICA] Wonder why there’s so much controversy about playing international matches at high altitude? Four days after Diego Maradona‘s Argentina looked like world beaters in a 4-0 victory over Venezuela, it traveled to La Paz, at almost 11,000 feet above sea level, and got hammered by Bolivia, 6-1. The irony: Maradona had backed Bolivia’s campaign to get FIFA’s ban on matches at high altitude lifted.

[USA-TRINIDAD & TOBAGO] Along with praise for hat-trick hero Jozy Altidore and three-assist man Landon Donovan, credit is due is all around for a spirited, determined cast of U.S. players who took command early and rarely let their grip slip while beating Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0, Wednesday in Nashville.

[USA-TRINIDAD & TOBAGO REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players and comments on their performance in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago.

[PREDICTIONS] It’s hard to imagine the defending champion to be winless after three games yet RSL will be pumped up for its home opener and so will the fans. Still, the Crew’s experience will carve out a point.

[OFF THE POST] Roberto Fernandes, coach of Brazilian second division club Figueirense, felt central defender Jairo was playing significantly below form. So Fernandes forced Jairo to wear a small pink dress over his practice gear.

[TEAM OF THE WEEK] Several first-year players, including Seattle stars Oswaldo Alvarez and Fredy Montero and New England rookie Darrius Barnes, had big games. For Soccer America’s MLS Team of the Week for Week 2 …

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING-ASIA] Australia moved to within one point of clinching a berth in the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan. South Korea took over the lead in Group B with a 1-0 victory over North Korea.

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] On Wednesday, the first team could qualify for the 2010 World Cup, joining host South Africa in the 32-team field. Australia would clinch a berth in the finals with a victory over Uzbekistan in a game that kicked off at 5 a.m. ET and a tie between Bahrain and Qatar later in the day. The Australia-Uzbekistan match launched a crucial day of World Cup qualifying. Here’s a look at the most intriguing games, all available on television, on each of the three continents other than Concacaf on a day when there will be a full slate of games …

[OFF THE POST] Uzbekistan’s coach prepares his team with a training method that has his players take aim at backboard with a hole slightly bigger than the ball. Players who miss the hole must move behind the wall, place their face in the hole, and await their teammates’ shots.

[YOUTH] The coach of Scituate, Mass., U-8 girls team resigned after parents complained about his introductory e-mail, which encouraged players to eat “undercooked red meat” and play like a “Michael Vick pit bull.” The coach wrote that his players should be ready for “bumps, bruises and even bleed a little …. (but I do hope the other team is the one bleeding).”

[HEXAGONAL] It’s only the third day of World Cup 2010 qualifying in the Concacaf zone, but Mexico and Honduras meet in a critical match for both teams Wednesday in San Pedro Sula (TV: Telemundo, live, 9:30 pm ET). If one team loses, look for its coach to be on his way out. One player who isn’t in San Pedro Sula is New Mexico product Edgar Castillo. Called in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Giovanni Dos Santos, Castillo was unable to travel with Mexico to Honduras because he lost his passport.

[HEXAGONAL] Ever wonder what the impact of a tense match like Saturday’s World Cup qualifier between the USA and El Salvador has on a coach? El Salvador coach Carlos de los Cobos was hospitalized Sunday, complaining of dizziness. He was released Monday and joined the short-handed Salvadoran national team for its next qualifier against Costa Rica Wednesday at the Saprissa Stadium in San Jose.

[HEXAGONAL] History favors the USA when it meets Trinidad & Tobago in World Cup qualifying Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn., (TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2, Galavision.

[HEXAGONAL] Unlike people in many professions, soccer players seldom sulk or mope after a disappointing game, usually because there’s another one right around the corner. Except for those rare occasions when a season or cup run ends in excruciating fashion, players must get on with it. After scraping out a 2-2 tie in San Salvador Saturday despite being outplayed for most of the match and falling behind, 2-0, the U.S. players can’t wait to rectify their reputations.

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] While Ivory Coast began three days of morning following the death of 19 fans in a stampede before Sunday’s World Cup qualifier between Ivory Coast and Malawi at Abidjan’s Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, an investigation into the tragedy continued. Star Didier Drogba called it “a national drama,” adding that he and his Ivorian teammates did not learn about what happened until after the game, which ended in a 5-0 victory.

[MAKING A LIST] Sunday’s tragedy in Abidjan marked the ninth time this decade that fans were killed at a major soccer match in Africa — and the fifth time at a World Cup qualifier.

[TELEVISION] The UEFA Champions League, a staple of midweek viewing in ESPN2 since 1994, is headed to Fox Soccer Channel, starting next season, according to an AP report.

[HEXAGONAL] Nobody, including the player himself nor Coach Bob Bradley, is sure when and at which position Jonathan Spector will return to the national team. Yet he’s one of those players based overseas that the coach is tracking closely. Summoned to his first U.S. camp since last summer in advance of qualifiers against El Salvador (Saturday’s 2-2 tie) and Trinidad & Tobago (Wednesday, ESPN2, Galavision, 7:30 pm ET), Spector has edged his way into the scene at West Ham United, making six appearances since late December following a six-month injury absence.

[MLS] Two days after the normally stingy Houston defense surrendered three goals in a 3-2 loss at San Jose came official word of a signing to bolster the team’s attack. Ade Akinbiyi, 34, who has played for numerous clubs in several divisions of English soccer, visited Houston last weekend to take a physical and finalize contractual details. He was introduced to local media at a press conference Monday, then flew back to England to formally sever his ties to Burnley of the League Championship (second division) with a buyout.

[MLS] David Beckham, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder who is playing on loan with Italy’s AC Milan until July, is the world’s best paid soccer player according to a list published by France Football that estimates players’ income from salary and endorsements. …

[OFF THE POST] Goalkeeper Artur Boruc was kicked off the Polish national team after a nightmare performance in a 3-2 World Cup qualifying loss to Northern Ireland in which he was blamed for all three goals and looked particularly bad on the third goal. He whiffed on a harmless back pass from Michal Zewlakow.

[WORLD CUP 2018/2022 BID]. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the most famous American soccer fan of his generation, has joined the USA Bid Committee seeking the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup.