Houston matched D.C. United’s back-to-back championships in the first two MLS seasons by rallying to beat New England, just as it did in last year’s final. This time, it came back from a 1-0 deficit to win, 2-1, in overtime to win the fourth title in franchise history.
Category: Soccer America Magazine
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat-Wilmer Cabrera: ‘Coaching has to be natural.’
World Cup vet and former pilot Wilmer Cabrera aims to take U.S. Soccer’s U-17 program to new heights.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
International Year in Review
It was a year for triumph and tragedy. Champions were crowned on three continents, and a new generation of stars dominated the international club scene. But 2007 was also marked by tragedy as Italian soccer descended into violence.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
The Best of MLS
An influx of new players – DPs, youth and senior internationals and drafted rookies – produced the deepest player pool in league history. That depth and quality are reflected in the annual Soccer America positional rankings.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Women’s World Cup: Top 10 Stories
1 The long road to respect Women’s soccer has come a long way in the last half century since the DFB, the powerful governing body of German soccer, attempted to ban a group of women from forming a national league in 1955. “Irreparable damage” would come to their bodies and “the public display of their […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
MLS: Rating the All-Rookie XI
Fueled by the new Designated Player rule and an influx of foreign players, competition for roster spots forced rookies into the toughest situation of any group coming to MLS out of college since its launch in 1996. Several players who emerged started more than 20 games and played invaluable roles in their first seasons. The […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
U.S. Abroad-Castillo: From New Mexico to Old Mexico
How a small-town U.S. boy ended up on the Mexican national team. Even when Edgar Castillo was only 4 years old, he watched soccer games on television. “He’d come over to our house to play with my boys,” says Linda Lara. “If I turned on the television for a soccer game, Edgar would start watching. […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Go Abroad, Young Man?
Interest from foreign clubs in teenage American players is at an all-time high and an increasing number of youngsters are considering leaving their homes to pursue their soccer dreams aboard. One day Francisco Lletget noticed something slightly odd about the way his son, Sebastian, was eating breakfast, so he approached and took a closer look. […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
U.S. Abroad: Decision Time for Rossi
The name of American-born Giuseppe Rossi has arisen once again as U.S. head coach Bob Bradley scours the globe for players to restock his player pool. Rossi’s career is steaming along as he scores goals for Spanish club Villarreal and the Italian under-21 team, for which he may play next year in the Olympic Games. […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
MLS Newcomers Boost Profile
Only five Designated Players were signed in 2007 to varying degrees of success, yet many teams acquired players by more traditional means who have contributed greatly in their first MLS seasons. The tale is told in MLS offices of how skittish were Chicago Fire officials to herald the arrival of Mexican icon Cuauhtemoc Blanco in […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Josef Schulz Takes Dutch-Brazilian Approach
Worldwide search for player gold mine led Austrian Josef Schulz to South Florida. Josef Schulz once spent two years traveling the world scouting young soccer talent. But on this day, nine years ago, he was just taking a walk with his wife, Barbara, in their Boca Raton, Fla., neighborhood. They stopped to watch a pickup […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
John Doyle: Keeping the Focus on the Kids
U.S. World Cup veteran John Doyle chose the youth game over coaching in MLS. When John Doyle looks at youth soccer today and his own experience as a kid, the differences he sees are profound. "Girls commit to college programs when they're sophomores in high school!" says Doyle, the Director of Coaching of Mustang […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Chicago Fire Set for Second Decade
The arrival of flamboyant Mexican attacker Cuauhtemoc Blanco is just one of several major changes for the Chicago Fire, the expansion champion of 1998 that has yet to bag a second league title. At a team golf outing two days after a crucial 1-0 victory over Columbus lifted Chicago into the playoff tier, Fire […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
European Market Frenzy
Spending on the European summer transfer market reached $2 billion in 2007. What's behind the spending boom? And who spent wisely and who spent foolishly? Spending on the European summer transfer market – the two-month window during which European teams stock up on players for the new season – reached $2 billion in 2007. […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Brazil’s New Look
The selection of former captain Carlos Dunga as coach of Brazil came as a surprise to many, but a stunning upset of Argentina in the Copa America final has secured his position as he readies the team for the start of World Cup qualifying. During his career as a player, many observers regarded Carlos […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
How Barcelona Spawns Stars
Barcelona can buy any player it wants, but maintains an ambitious and successful youth program. There's a large crowd of people in the plaza area surrounding Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, many of them are wearing jerseys with Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o on the back. But there's no game today. It's a Thursday afternoon, the team […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
U.S. Backline: Up For Grabs
After winning the Gold Cup, the U.S. conceded 13 goals while losing five straight games in the Copa America and against Sweden and Brazil in friendlies. Yet the defeats did serve the purposes of Coach Bob Bradley, who is testing veterans as well as young players to upgrade the backline. Defending is about far […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Reevaluating the Residency Program
In light of poor results at this year's U-17 World Cup, the launch of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, and MLS's move into the youth arena, it's time to reassess U.S. Soccer's 9-year-old Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. The preparation process for the USA's first appearance at the U-17 World Cup, in 1985, didn't much […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Beez Faces New Frontier
DaMarcus Beasley has left England for Scotland, where his blazing speed and two-way play may be the right fit for legendary club Glasgow Rangers. There's a goatee where was once the clean jawline of his teens, and a thick silver chain and "7" encircles his neck rather than the gold version(s) he sometimes favors, […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
U.S. Women: All In A Day’s Work
They don’t want to talk about it, but the U.S. women’s national team has been unbeaten since Coach Greg Ryan took charge in early 2005. The secret? Practice and more practice. Ryan has insisted the player do hundreds of repetitions, and the work has paid off at both the ends of the field. Sixteen years […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: U.S. Soccer Development Academy
The U.S. Soccer Federation has integrated the country’s top youth clubs into the national team program. This fall marks the launch of a youth league in which every game will be an audition for the national team program. By creating the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, for U-16 and U-18 boys, the Federation is in effect […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
MLS’s Latin American Connection
A splash of millionaire-salaried players under the Designated Player rule may not be the most important factor in the efforts of MLS teams to upgrade their quality. A stream of South Americans has changed the talent level and flavor this season. League officials are adamantly repeating that the 2007 season is about far more than […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Julie Foudy Finds Another Forum
Hall of Famer has taken to new roles as ESPN sports reporter and first-time mother. She’s co-hosting MLS games, she’s working on ESPN programs such as “Outside the Lines” and during the Women’s World Cup in September she’ll be in the Bristol studios as well as China. She’s on the air, everywhere. It’s Julie Foudy, […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Wambach Seeks Redemption
Abby Wambach blames herself for the loss to Germany in the semifinals of the 2003 Women's World Cup. She's also quick to point out she missed her penalty kick in the only U.S. setback of the last two and a half years, a shootout loss to Germany at the 2006 Algarve Cup. No player has […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
The Soccer Life: Soccer Smoothes the Path
Soccer helped cure homesickness and eased the challenge of adjusting to a new land for a group of young stars we met at this summer’s adidas ESP scouting and development camp for the nation’s top teen players. Enzo Martinez (Rock Hill, S.C.)‘HOW LUCKY I AM’ When Uruguay played Australia for a spot in the 2006 […]