“I guess you have to go back to youth soccer. We won a few State Cups with the [La Jolla] Nomads.”
— Frankie Hejduk, 34, who scored Columbus’ third goal in its 3-1 MLS Cup win over the New York Red Bulls, upon being asked to recall his previous club titles. Hejduk has played nine years of MLS ball, spent four years in the German Bundesliga, one year in the Swiss league, and he played three seasons at UCLA. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
[OFF THE POST] Manchester commuters were reportedly stunned to see Manchester City’s Brazilian star, Robinho, who earns $250,000 a week, take public transportation. Robinho spent $9 on bus tickets for him and his girlfriend for a central Manchester-Trafford Centre roundtrip.
“There is a concern that people will not come in the numbers we expect from aboard. It’s very important to promote in the next months. Hopefully the soccer people will still travel.”
— Horst Schmidt, FIFA consultant to the 2010 South Africa World Cup organizers, on concerns that the global economic downturn could impact the number of visitors to the tournament. (Reuters)
[AWARDS] The Puerto Rico Islanders (USL-1), Cleveland City Stars (USL-2), Ocean City Barons (PDL) and Pali Blues (W-League) were named organizations of the year in United Soccer Leagues’ honors handed out Friday night its annual Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner in Tampa.
[ENGLAND] Tim Howard and Everton were downed by Wigan Athletic in Monday evening’s Premier League game.
[ARGENTINA] Boca Juniors took over the top spot in Argentina thanks to an incredible volley from Luciano Gabriel Figueroa.
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Several MLS teams, not just coach-less newcomer Seattle Sounders FC, are in tricky situations as they prepare for the expansion draft Wednesday, but only Houston is also getting ready to play a competitive match.
[MLS/LIST] Forwards Adam Cristman and Jovan Kirovski were traded Monday as MLS teams begin the process of tweaking their rosters for the 2009 season. Teams are allowed to protect 11 players and can only lose one player in the expansion draft, to be held Wednesday. Expansion club Seattle Sounders FC can select no more than 10 players, so not every team will necessarily be directly affected by Seattle’s selections. For an update on the latest trades and a list of unprotected players. …
[MLS] The MLS Board of Governors approved changes affecting its competition format, schedule parameters, roster size and playoff format. Concacaf Champions League qualifiers and SuperLiga participants were also announced.
[UNDER-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP] The USA moved into the quarterfinals of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile with a 3-0 win over Argentina in Saturday.
[ENGLAND] Manchester City beat Arsenal, 3-0, on a low-scoring weekend as all of the Premier League’s top five clubs failed to find the net.
[GERMANY] It was another high-scoring weekend in the Bundesliga as Hoffenheim took advantage of a Bayer Leverkusen loss to move three points clear at the top.
[SPAIN] Real Madrid closed the gap on Barcelona to three points at the top of La Liga after the Catalan club could only tie at home to Getafe.
[ITALY] Inter topped Juventus in the weekend’s big game on a bizarre goal from Sulley Muntari, while Milan could only tie in Torino.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Brad Friedel tied an English Premier League record when he made his 166th straight appearance in a stellar effort to hold Manchester United in a 0-0 tie. Youngster Preston Zimmerman scored his first league goal, and reports continue that Oguchi Onyewu could be headed to France during the January transfer window.
[MLS CUP 2008] Alejandro Moreno, who scored Columbus’ crucial opening goal, has now won three MLS titles with three different teams. The Venezuelan’s American soccer adventure began at a youth tournament in Texas.
[MLS CUP 2008] Sunday at Home Depot Center met two of the three original MLS teams never to play for the league title, and Columbus prevailed over the stubborn NewYork Red Bulls, 3-1, to end a five-year run of Supporters’ Shield failures in the final. Guillermo Barros Schelotto set an MLS Cup record by assisting on goals by Alejandro Moreno, Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk to down New York, which played perhaps its best postseason game at both ends of the field. A goal by John Wolyniec tied the game briefly in the second half, but ultimately New York was cruelly punished for its lapses.
“We haven’t heard anything from Bayern Munich about Landon [Donovan] going on loan to that team.”
— MLS Commissioner Don Garber at a press conference last Friday. On Thursday, Bayern Munich’s official Web site reported that Landon Donovan had gotten the oral go-ahead from MLS to go on loan to Bayern Munich from Jan. 1 until the beginning of the MLS season in March in a deal similar to Galaxy’s teammate David Beckham’s with AC Milan. The Bayern Web site also cited Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann as saying he could imagine a longer-term acquisition of Donovan.
[MLS CUP 2008] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the players’ performance in the Columbus Crew’s 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls’ in MLS Cup 2008 on Sunday …
[MLS HONORS] FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper, who scored 18 goals in 2008 after recovering from a broken shinbone suffered in 2007, was named MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
[MLS HONORS] Three members of the Columbus Crew made MLS’s 2008 Best XI team while the other MLS Cup 2008 finalist New York Red Bulls were not represented.
[2009 CONFEDERATIONS CUP] The USA received no favors when it was drawn with reigning World Cup champion Italy, South American champion Brazil and African champion Egypt in Group B the 2009 Confederations Cup June 14-28 in South Africa. Euro ’08 champion Spain’s opposition in Group A will be Iraq, New Zealand and South Africa.
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Like it did in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, the USA opens at home against archrival Mexico in the final round of World Cup 2010 qualifying.
Play continued Thursday at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile, where Brazil knocked off defending champion North Korea, 3-2, in a thrilling match. Japan was a comfortable 2-0 winner over Canada’s team of U.S. collegians, while Norway beat Mexico, 2-1. In the tournament’s first route, Germany beat the Democratic Republic of Congo, 5-0. The USA resumes play Saturday when it faces Argentina in Chillan. For all the results and schedules …
“I was sort of unemployed, so that probably helped.”
— Sigi Schmid on why left his home in Southern California to take over the Columbus Crew in 2006. He led the Los Angeles Galaxy to three MLS Cup finals and had the team in first place in the Western Conference when he was fired in 2004. He returns to the Home Depot Center Sunday to lead the Crew against the New York Red Bulls in MLS Cup ’08. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
