“Women’s soccer is on a tremendous growth pattern in the U.S. This is a huge opportunity for us.”
— Jochen Zeitz, chief executive of Puma, on the three-year deal the German company is expected to announce Monday with Women’s Professional Soccer. Puma will pay roughly $10 million to become the official equipment supplier to WPS. (Wall Street Journal)
[U.S. WOMEN] Playing her first game as a striker in her international career, Tiny Ellertson scored to give the USA a 1-0 win over China on Saturday before 3,619 fans at the Home Depot Center.
[CLUB WORLD CUP] Jose Francisco Torres became the first American to play in the Club World Cup when he started for Mexico’s Pachuca in its 4-2 overtime win over Egypt’s Al Ahly on Saturday before more than 30,000 fans in Tokyo.
Barcelona and Inter Milan opened up big leads in Spain and Italy, respectively. Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich are tied at the Bundesliga break. Liverpool and Chelsea remained 1-2 in England. Lyon’s lead in France was reduced to three points. AZ won at Feyenoord, 1-0, to remain on top in the Netherlands. For all the weekend results, standings and leading scorers …
[MEXICO] Despite losing at home, 2-0, in the second leg of the Torneo Apertura final, Toluca won Mexico’s opening championship when it prevailed 7-6, over Cruz Azul on penalty kicks.
[ITALY] Juventus beat Milan, 4-2, in the weekend’s big game as Serie A went wild, averaging over four goals per game. Inter beat last-place Chievo to retain its six-point lead.
[SPAIN] Barcelona overcame Real Madrid with two late goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi in the superclasico. Despite appearing as a second-half sub, Jozy Altidore couldn’t prevent 10-man Villareal from losing at Sevilla.
[ENGLAND] All the top four teams tied, allowing Brad Friedel and Aston Villa to slip ahead of Arsenal into fourth place after its 4-2 win over Bolton.
[GERMANY] Hoffenheim took the unofficial “fall champion” title, but the top teams could only tie on the Bundesliga’s final round of play before its six-week winter break.
[ARGENTINA] Boca Juniors, Tigre and San Lorenzo finished level on points at the end of the Opening Championship, meaning a three-way playoff for the title.
[CLUB WORLD CUP] The 2008 Club World Cup began Thursday in Japan, where Adelaide United of Australia defeated Waitakere United of New Zealand, 2-1. Play continues Saturday with quarterfinal action between Mexico’s Pachuca (featuring young American international Francisco Torres) and Egyptian power Al Ahly (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, Saturday, 2:30 am ET, Friday, 11:30 pm ET).
“Without being derogatory, West Ham are a second-rate club. Let’s not kid ourselves … Once I have proved myself in a team such this, I can hope to make the step up to another club.”
— West Ham United defender Herita Ilunga, on loan from French Ligue 1 club Toulouse, endears himself at the London club. The Congo DR international later said he meant “second level” club. (TeamTalk.com)
[MLS] Other leagues are trimming staff and cutting expenses as they buckle down for a bleak winter amid dire economic climes, but at MLS headquarters, the leaders are ready for another game of Expansion Poker. Commissioner Don Garber uttered mostly positive comments about the prospects in Portland, which is seeking a good chunk of public money to launch an expansion team in 2011 at a renovated PG&E Park. He made those comments while visiting the Rose City earlier this week, and so the statements should be liberally salted before being consumed. He also had effusive praise upon visiting Vancouver during his trip to the Northwest.
[MEXICO] Toluca, the Diablos Rojos, beat host Cruz Azul, 2-0, on Thursday in the first leg of the Apertura 2008 final with first-half goals by Paulo Da Silva and Sergio Amaury Ponce.
[MEXICO] Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who plays for MLS’s Chicago Fire, retired from his national team on Sept. 7 after making a cameo against Canada and celebrating his 100th cap – but now FIFA says he falls short of the century mark.
[REF WATCH] Two players from French club Lyon, knowing their club was assured passage into the knockout stage of the Champions League with one group game left, intentionally got yellow cards in Lyon’s penultimate group game so they’d serve their accumulated yellow-card suspension in a meaningless game and enter the round of 16 with clean slates. The scheme, despite yielding fines, achieved what they wanted.
[MLS] American representation on both sides of the field came into play Thursday when the MLS Select/Generation adidas team finished its three-game visit to London against the reserves of West Ham United.
[DIGICEL CARIBBEAN CHAMPIONSHIP] Grenada, the surprise of this year’s Digicel Caribbean Championship, moved into Sunday’s final against host Jamaica when it beat Cuba, 6-5, on penalties after a late goal by Kithson Bain earned it a 2-2 tie. Jamaica clinched the other berth in the final with a 2-0 win over Guadeloupe.
[MLS] Major League Soccer released the initial list of 65 college seniors — 55 Americans or green-card holders and 10 foreigners — from 45 Division I schools who have been invited to participate in the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine, which will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 9-13, 2009. For the complete list …
[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Porto, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester United won their groups in Wednesday’s final night of action prior to the Champions League’s spring knockout phase.
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] He isn’t saying he prefers SuperLiga to the Concacaf Champions’ League, but Houston coach Dominic Kinnear can’t help but get excited about playing Mexican teams in real competition. Five months after playing Atlante in the SuperLiga, Houston was matched up with the Mexican club for the CCL quarterfinals to be played next year. Houston hosts the first leg (Feb. 24-26) and faces Atlante in Cancun a week or so later.
[MLS] Scott Sinclair hit a hat trick as a young MLS Select squad fell to the Chelsea reserves, 4-0, Wednesday in the second match of a three-match tour.
“They just can’t do this. They put me on the floor, they got my camera and they threw it in the trash can. They can’t do this to us.”
— A paparazzo who reportedly was beaten up by David Beckham‘s bodyguards after pursing Beckham and his family through the streets of Beverly Hills. Beckham reportedly stopped his car and confronted the photographer before his bodyguards took over. (EOnline)
[MEXICO] Cruz Azul, which finished runner-up to Santos last season, hosts the first leg of the Mexican Apertura 2008 final against Toluca on Thursday (TV: Azteca America, 9 pm ET).
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Edgar Castillo, a 22-year-old New Mexico product, is set to join Club America, Mexico’s most popular club along with Chivas Guadalajara, according to Mexican media, which reports the clubs are ironing out the details of his transfer. Castillo, who helped Santos Laguna win the Clausura 2008 title, arrived in Mexico at age 18.
