Category: Soccer America Daily

[MLS] Considering its lowly finish in 2008 – tied at the bottom of the Western Conference with expansion San Jose with 33 points – it’s not surprising that of the seven Western teams (in 2008), only the Galaxy had a losing record last year against the East.

[MLS] The first weekend of play featured five interconference matchups hosted by Western teams, and of those only expansion Seattle came out on top by thrashing New York, 3-0, in the opener Thursday night.

[MLS] The spectacular Fredy Montero dominated coverage of Seattle’s rousing win, yet defender Jhon Hurtado played impressively alongside veteran Tyrone Marshall in his first MLS game, as did USL-1 Sounders graduate Oswaldo Alonso

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] MLS’s 14th season kicked off with a good amount of goals and big crowds. The goals included a 60-yard effort from Dallas’ Kenny Cooper and a pair of strikes from last season’s leading scorer, Landon Donovan

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Just when it looked like Borussia Moenchengladbach, with some inspired play from Michael Bradley, was climbing out of the Bundesliga relegation zone, it lost, 1-0, to lowly VfL Bochum. In England, Brad Friedel had a nightmarish outing against Liverpool, which scored against two American keepers in one game.

[MLS] He’s only played 89 minutes, but MLS has a new superstar. On a night when everything went right for Seattle and every went wrong for New York, Colombian wunderkind Fredy Montero stole the show with two goals and an assist on the third as Seattle pummeled New York, 3-0, amid a raucous celebration at Qwest Field.

[REACTION] Hard as it is to believe, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said the Sounders’ resounding performance in its opening game is only a start. He said the Sounders will get better as they develop a better understanding. MLS, watch out!

[PREDICTIONS] The MLS moves into full swing with six games on tap for the weekend. We like the Galaxy to beat D.C. United in a goalfest — neither defense looks ready — and Houston and Columbus to play to a stalemate in a battle of the last two MLS champions. For all the predictions as well as TV viewing information …

[SPAIN] The president the Spanish Second Division club that recently acquired American teen Jozy Altidore on loan quit on Thursday after he was suspected of being involved in a shooting at a brothel in Jerez de la Frontera in southwest Spain. Joaquin Bilbao and his driver spent the night in a police cell. Bilbao denied firing the shots at the door of a brothel, which was closed.

Marcus Tracy, the 2008 Hermann Trophy winner, came on in the second half of Danish club Aalborg’s match against Manchester City in the second leg of the UEFA Cup’s round of 16. Aalborg scored two late goals — the first set up by Tracy — to tie the series on aggregate, but Man. City prevailed in a shootout. France and Ukraine led the way with two teams apiece headed to the quarterfinals.

[MLS] At halftime of the Seattle-New York broadcast on ESPN2, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said he was headed after the game down south to Portland, and it wasn’t to see how the roses are doing. MLS has scheduled a news conference for Friday, and it is expected to announce Portland as its 18th franchise.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] U.S. international Michael Orozco scored for Mexican club San Luis in its 2-2 tie with Peru’s Universitario Wednesday in San Luis Potosi in the Copa Libertadores.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Michael Bradley‘s two goals last weekend not only helped relegation-threatend Borussia Moenchengladbach to a clutch victory, it had the German press hailing the 21-year-old midfielder as the Bundesliga’s new star. Bild, Germany’s largest circulation daily, headlined its article on Bradley’s rise with an allusion to Landon Donovan‘s loan stint at Bayern Munich: “Hey Klinsi! Borussia has the Super Ami.”

[MY VIEW] It’s all coming together for MLS in the Northwest. As it should be. The Seattle Sounders FC will make their MLS debut against New York Thursday before a sell-out crowd at (down-sized) Qwest Field (TV: ESPN2, 9 pm ET). On Wednesday, MLS announced that Vancouver will join the league as its 17th team in 2011. Portland is the favorite to be awarded the 18th franchise, also scheduled to begin play in 2011.

[MLS] Journalists really shouldn’t make game predictions public, since objectivity is a prerequisite to doing the job properly, and there’s nothing neutral about sticking your neck out declaring this team or that team — or in the case of soccer, neither team – is going to win. But we’ll go out on a limb and submit a prediction that New York will beat Seattle, 2-1, in the MLS 2009 season opener Thursday at Qwest Field

[U.S. ABROAD] Carlos Bocanegra started for Rennes in its 2-0 win over third division Rodez in the quarterfinals of the French Cup. Freddy Adu did not play in Monaco’s 2-0 loss at Grenoble.

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Less than two weeks before it hosts the United States in the Hexagonal, El Salvador has been rocked by a player strike. Twenty-three of 24 players — all but U.S. resident Edwin Miranda — walked out of training on Tuesday afternoon to protest the non-payment of bonuses for having qualified for the Hexagonal, the final round of qualifying.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Santos took a slim lead in its Concacaf Champions League semifinal series with Mexican rival Atlante, beating the Cancun club, 2-1, at home on Wednesday thanks to two spectacular goals by Colombian Carlos Quintero.

[ENGLAND] On the heels of two of the biggest wins in Liverpool history, Reds manager Rafael Benitez won another battle when he earned a new five-year contract valued at $6 million a year. Just as important, the Spaniard won greater control over personnel matters, ending a prolonged battle with Liverpool’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

[TELEVISION] Fox Soccer Channel has named Mark Rogondino to handle play-by-play responsibilities and Jenn Hildreth to do the color for its WPS Sunday broadcasts of Women’s Professional Soccer’s inaugural 2009 season.

Finally, MLS has docked in Vancouver. Commissioner Don Garber flew to the Canadian city Tuesday to wrap up final details and attend a press conference Wednesday to announce Vancouver will join MLS as the league’s 17th franchise in 2011.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Puerto Rico was bounced by the USA from the World Baseball Classic with a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, but all was not lost for Puerto Rican sports fans on Tuesday night. The USL-1 Islanders continued their remarkable campaign in the Concacaf Champions League with a 2-0 win over Mexico’s Cruz Azul in front of more than 13,000 fans at the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon.

[MLS] These are tough times for sports leagues seeking to seal marketing deals, but Major League Soccer received a boost this week when Soccer United Marketing, MLS’s marketing arm,  reached an agreement with Volkswagen on a new multi-year partnership.