Category: Soccer America Daily

[ALGARVE CUP] In just her second international start, Chicago Red Stars forward Megan Rapinoe scored to give the USA a 1-0 victory against Norway in their final group game at the Algarve Cup. The Americans had already clinched a berth in Wednesday’s final against Sweden, a 3-2 winner over Germany on Monday.

[MLS] The MLS Players Union has released the list of 2009 player salaries and much of the inevitable interest is focused on two categories: the new Designated Players, and some high-profile signings not in the DP range, at least officially. Only Seattle has signed a new Designated Player, to wit Swedish midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, who will earn $1.3 million in base salary. That’s twice as much as the DP deal awarded to the Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who after winning dual MVP awards – regular season and MLS Cup – while leading Columbus to its first MLS title, has been bumped up to $650,000 in base salary ($775,000 in guaranteed compensation). He earned a base salary of $250,000 and $375,000 guaranteed last year.

[MLS] 2009 player salary figures released by the MLS Players Union reveal that only seven players in MLS earn more than $500,000. Forty players make the minimum $34,000, and 12 more make the developmental minimum of $20,100, as of March 2. For more on who makes what in MLS. …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Eddie Johnson scored his first goal since moving from MLS to Britain in January of 2008. Landon Donovan nearly scored in the last game of his loan stint with Bayern Munich. Michael Bradley celebrated a big win with his last-place Bundesliga club. For a wrap-up of U.S. players in foreign leagues last weekend. …

[ENGLAND] Argentine Carlos Tevez scored twice in the first half as Manchester United remained alive in its bid for five championships this season with a 4-0 win over Fulham in the FA Cup quarterfinals. The win set up a meeting with Everton in the semifinals.

[SPAIN] Talk of a Barcelona collapse might have been premature as its defense, which had allowed eight goals in its previous three games, contained Athletic Bilbao, and the Catalan club cruised to a 2-0 win that lifted its lead over Real Madrid to six points. Real Madrid’s string of 10 wins ended on Saturday when it was held to a 1-1 draw at home by Atletico.

[MLS] Becks will be back in MLS this season, but only for a few months. Under terms of an agreement in the works for more than a week and officially announced Sunday, David Beckham will stay with AC Milan until the end of the Serie A season May 31 and return to the United States to finish the 2009 season with the Galaxy.

[MLS] In the opening game of the Carolina Challenge Cup Sunday, D.C. United lost two players to red cards, and Real Salt Lake took advantage.

[MLS] Chivas USA lost a preseason scrimmage Saturday and may have also lost veteran defender Claudio Suarez to retirement.

[ITALY] Days after Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho dissed its main rivals, the Nerazzurri came through with a a 2-0 win over Genoa that kept in in first place with a seven-point lead over second-place Juventus.

[GERMANY] Ukrainian striker Andrei Voronin, a bust at Liverpool, has rediscovered his form since returning on loan to the Bundesliga. He upped his total to 10 goals this season with a hat trick in leader Hertha Berlin’s 3-1 victory at Energie Cottbus that moved it four points ahead of Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg, all tied for second place.

Lyon’s 2-0 loss at Lille allowed Paris St. Germain to move to within one point of the lead in France. AZ extended its lead in the Netherlands to 11 points.

[CONCACAF UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP] The USA had a chance to clinch Sunday to clinch a berth at the 2009 Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, but it was badly outplayed by Honduras and had to settle for a 0-0 tie that means it must earn at least a point against El Salvador on Tuesday to qualify unless Jamaica and Honduras tie.

[ALGARVE CUP] The USA advanced to the final of the Algarve Cup for the seventh time in a row thanks to a 1-0 win over Iceland Friday on a spectacular goal by forward Natasha Kai in the last minute of regulation time.

[CRIME & PUNISHMENT] Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole‘s evening started off admirably. He and teammates attended a fundraiser for two children’s charities with more than 300 charity workers. It ended with an arrest for drunkenly insulting police that resulted in a three-hour drunk-tank stint and a $113 fine.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Once every few years, soccer surpasses the limits and boundaries of rationale, and skews into the seemingly impossible. It happened again Thursday in Torreon, Mexico, just as it did six years ago in San Jose, when the original MLS Quakes rallied from a 4-0 aggregate deficit to beat Los Angeles, 5-4, in the MLS playoffs. By the same aggregate, and a similar scenario, Santos Laguna overturned a 4-1 deficit.

[CONCACAF UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP] The U.S. U-20 national team, coached by Thomas Rongen, meets Jamaica on Friday in Trinidad & Tobago to kick off its quest to qualify for the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Rongen’s squad 20-man squad includes nine professionals, six of which play in MLS and three European-based players.

[WPS] The world’s all-time leader in national team appearances with 342, two-time World Cup and Olympic champion Kristine Lilly came to terms on a multi-year contact with the Boston Breakers of Women’s Professional Soccer, which kicks off its inaugural season this spring with seven teams.

[OFF THE POST] Since Dutchman Guus Hiddink took over as Chelsea boss, he intensified the fitness regime, restricted cell phone use on the training grounds, cracked down on tardiness, and demanded that the players wear Armani suits during team travel.

[MLS] Team-bonding and good competition are two reasons MLS coaches take their teams on foreign trips during preseason. Such jaunts occasionally involve adjusting and adapting to changing circumstances dictated by weather and other factors, and on the final game of its Argentine tour Seattle encountered both a tough opponent and unexpected circumstances.

[AMERICANS IN BRITAIN] Maurice Edu earned his second straight start for Glasgow Rangers, which was stunned by Inverness, 1-0, at Ibrox on Wednesday and lost the lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League it had shared with archrival Celtic. In the English Premier League, troubles continued for Brad Friedel’s Aston Villa when it fell at Manchester City, 2-0.

[ALGARVE CUP] The USA got first-half goals from midfielders Angie Wonzuk and Tina DiMartino, the only starters who weren’t members of last year’s Olympic gold-medal team, and cruised to a 2-0 win over Denmark Wednesday in Lagos, Portugal, to begin its bid for its third straight Algarve Cup title.