Category: Soccer America Daily

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Not every team puts as much emphasis on its reserve squad as does Houston, and all that work reaped a significant reward Tuesday night in San Salvador.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Maurice Edu, whose play for Glasgow Rangers had been limited to one league appearance (Sept. 19) since joining the Scottish club in August from Toronto FC on a $5 million transfer, went the full 90 on Tuesday in a 2-0 Scottish League Cup quarterfinal win over Hamilton.

[EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES] Soccer America provides the latest on employment opportunities for soccer-related positions. They include college coaching opportunities, as well as jobs in pro soccer, youth soccer, the soccer industry and television.

U.S. under-20 women’s national team coach Tony DiCicco named the 20 players who will represent the USA at the 2008 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which takes place Nov. 19-Dec. 7 in Chile.

[ITALY] Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino has been suspended for two games after being adjudged to have intentionally scored a goal with his arm in Sunday’s win at Palermo.

[ARGENTINA] River Plate’s mysterious decline continued at the weekend with defeat to a fellow struggler. Leader San Lorenzo was also at a loss.

[WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER] Mary Harvey, the starting goalkeeper on the USA’s title-winning team at the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, has been named Chief Operating Officer of the WPS, which kicks off next spring with seven teams.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Before it begins defending its last two MLS Cup titles, Houston needs a result to stay in the game internationally. The Dynamo is in San Salvador to play Luis Angel Firpo Tuesday (10 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Channel) in the first of a home-and-home exchange that is spread across four weeks and will decide the runner-up spot in Group B of the Concacaf Champions’ League.

[MLS: BY THE NUMBERS] Regular-season games averaged 2.81 goals, the highest scoring rate since the 2005 season. Los Angeles, which also led in goals conceded, was the league’s most prolific team.

[ITALY] Udinese and Napoli continue to give the Milan teams a good run for their money at the top of Serie A.

[SPAIN] Barcelona and Real Madrid continued to pressure league-leading Valencia during a free-scoring weekend in La Liga.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey scored his first English Premier League goal of the season. Borussia Moenchengladbach gave Michael Bradley his third start of the season. For a wrap-up of how U.S. players fared for their foreign clubs. …

The Los Angeles Galaxy missed out on the playoffs for a third straight year but Landon Donovan, who struck from the penalty spot in a 2-2 tie with FC Dallas, captured the regular-season scoring crown with 20 goals. For MLS game summaries, final standings, leading scorers, and MLS quarterfinal playoff TV schedule. …

[MLS] The New York Red Bulls, despite winning just two of their last nine games, snuck into the playoffs because D.C. United fell, 1-0, to Columbus on Sunday while Real Salt Lake reached the postseason for the first time in club history thanks to a 1-1 tie with Colorado on Saturday.

[ENGLAND] Liverpool went top after winning 1-0 at Chelsea and breaking the London side’s 86-game unbeaten home run.

[GERMANY] 1899 Hoffenheim took first place in the Bundesliga in style, hammering previous leader Hamburg, 3-0.

U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati also teaches economics at Columbia University. Soccer America spoke with Gulati about how the global economic crisis may affect the soccer world.

[U.S. SOCCER] The German soccer federation [DFB], which had previously been optimistic that 19-year-old defender Neven Subotic would be eligible for its national team despite having played for the USA at the 2005 U-17 World Cup, has admitted that Subotic doesn’t meet the FIFA requirements for a national-team switch to Germany. The news increases the chances that Subotic will play for the U.S. national team, although he still has other options.