Category: Soccer America Daily

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[SPAIN] La Liga club Almeria named former Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez to replace Gonzalo Arconada, who was fired Sunday after its 1-0 loss at Sporting Gijon left it in 16th place with only one win in its last 11 games.

[ENGLAND] Chelsea missed a chance to overtake Liverpool in the Premier League when it settled for a 0-0 tie at Everton after captain John Terry was sent off in the 34th minute. For more on Everton-Chelsea and the holiday EPL schedule …

SoccerAmericaDaily will break for the holidays and return next Monday and Tuesday. The staff of Soccer America wishes everyone a pleasant and safe holiday season.

[MLS] Former Crew head coach Sigi Schmid, whose hiring as Seattle’s boss lagged for months yet was never in serious doubt, has followed a similarly predictable course by naming Brian Schmetzer as an assistant coach. The former NASL Sounder coached the USL-1 Sounders from 2002 to 2008, winning a pair of championships along the way. He will give the MLS franchise continuity as well as provide a baseline of knowledge and experience as Schmid builds the city’s MLS team.

[MLS] The Curse of the Designated Player, like that of the Sports Illustrated cover, is alive and well.Yet another DP has been struck down by injury and will arrive, if not damaged, certainly on the mend. This time the victim has yet to play as much as a minute for his MLS team.

[AMERICANS ABROAD WRAP] Fulham’s Clint Dempsey scored his second EPL goal of the season in a 3-0 win over Middlesbrough. In France, defender Carlos Bocanegra helped Rennes win its derby game against Lorient, 2-1, and extend its unbeaten streak to 17 games.

[CLUB WORLD CUP] Despite losing Nemanja Vidic to a red card, Manchester United won the 2008 Club World Cup with a 1-0 win over South American champion Liga de Quito for its third trophy of the year.

[DATEBOOK] Defending champion Manchester United was drawn with Italian champion Inter Milan in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, setting up a meeting between old nemeses Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, formerly the coach of Chelsea and now the boss of Inter Milan.

[SPAIN] Barcelona headed into the Christmas break with a 10-point lead thanks to its 2-1 win at Villarreal on Sunday. The Catalan team came from behind to win on goals by Mali midfielder Seydou Keita and Frenchman Thierry Henry. Its form is such that even a red card to defender Gerard Pique with 15 minutes to play didn’t stop Barcelona.

[ITALY] David Beckham got his first up-close look at his new team, and it’s clear he arrives to a better situation than he did when he joined the Los Angeles Galaxy 18 months ago. AC Milan put on an impressive performance in a 5-1 win over Udinese on Sunday, a day after Beckham made his first public appearance in Milan.

[ENGLAND] Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was livid after its 1-1 with visiting Liverpool kept it eight points behind the league-leading Reds. He felt the Gunners would have held on for the win but for the red card to striker Emmanuel Adebayor, and he got bad news that captain and playmaker Cesc Fabregas is out with a torn knee, but the real cause of his anger might have been the poor defending that allowed Liverpool to equalize.

On the last weekend before the holiday break in most countries, there were big winners on the road — Barcelona at Villarreal in Spain, Inter Milan at Siena and Juventus at Atalanta in Italy and Aston Villa at West Ham in England. Four teams won on the road in France, including Bordeaux, which came back from three goals down in the second half to beat Freddy Adu‘s Monaco, 4-3. For all the weekend results, standings and leading scorers …

[MLS] More than a dozen years after signing as the Crew’s first discovery player, Robert Warzycha is taking over as its fifth head coach.

[AWARDS] U.S. Soccer named U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Tim Howard as the 2008 Male Athlete of the Year and Carli Lloyd, whose goal gave the USA a gold medal in 2008 Olympic women’s soccer, as the 2008 Female Athlete of the Year. Midfielders Sacha Kljestan, who represented the USA in Olympic men’s soccer and 2010 World Cup qualifying, and Kristie Mewis, who starred on the U.S. Under-17 Women’s World Cup team, won the Young Male and Young Female Awards, respectively.

[U.S. UNDER-18 NATIONAL TEAM] Mike Matkovich, who founded the Chicago Magic youth club and served as an assistant coach at Toronto FC and Chivas USA, has been named head coach of the U.S. under-18 boys national team.

[UEFA CUP] In Thursday’s final night of UEFA Cup group action, Tottenham, Sampdoria, Stuttgart and Paris St. Germain were among the teams to qualify for next spring’s knockout phase.

[CLUB WORLD CUP] Manchester United beat Japan’s Gamba Osaka 5-3 to reach Sunday’s Club World Cup final against LDU Quito of Ecuador.

[EUROPE] The winner of the UEFA Champions League could reap up to $160 million. The 16 teams that have reached the knockout stage, and which will be matched up in Friday’s draw, have already secured $56.2 million through prize money, tournament commercial revenues, ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandising and increased squad value, according to an AP report.

[MUSIC] The latest hit single by Manu Chao, the French-born singer of Spanish descent, is “La Vida Tombola,” a tribute to Diego Maradona, currently head coach of Argentina’s national team.

[IRELAND] St. Patrick’s midfielder Gary Dempsey has been suspended for five games for placing a $30 bet on Galway United to beat his own team