Category: Soccer America Site

D.C. United has retained its former playmaker Marco ''El Diablo'' Etcheverry to serve as Special Consultant to the President. Etcheverry, whom Soccer America named the league's all-time best player, won three MLS titles with D.C. United (1996, 97 and 99). In his new role, Etcheverry will scout, serve as a liaison to Latin American countries […]

By Ridge Mahoney Kevin Nowak (Real Salt Lake) and Jon Busch and Chris Leitch (both Columbus) were among the notable players placed on waivers as MLS teams trimmed their rosters to meet the March 1 compliance date for roster sizes and salary-cap restrictions. Teams are required to carry no more than 18 players on the […]

If Colombia's chances of landing the 2014 World Cup already looked slim, they can't have been helped by comments of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe toward the organization that will be picking the site. Angered that FIFA President Sepp Blatter called the Andean nation's bid ''more a public relations presentation of the country to say that […]

FC Dallas has signed 21-year-old Colombian midfielder Juan Carlos Toja, who has been with Argentine club River Plate on loan from Colombia's Independiente Santa Fe. ''Juan Carlos is an exciting central midfield player who likes to get involved in the attack,'' said FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow. ''He's a player with huge potential and one […]

By Ridge Mahoney The best team during the 2006 regular season and the defending MLS Cup champion face radically different tasks in the second legs of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarterfinals Thursday night. Both are also playing in the Superliga this summer, but could be facing showdowns against Mexican opposition in two weeks. D.C. United, […]

If David Beckham's move to Los Angeles was to help his wife Victoria, formerly Posh of the Spice Girls, revive her career – early returns indicate success. NBC has signed a deal with the Beckhams for a six-episode reality show chronicling the Beckham family move to the U.S. that will focus on Victoria. It will […]

Coach Hugo Sanchez, whose debut as Mexico coach was a 2-0 loss to the USA in February, celebrated his first win Wednesday as Mexico downed Venezuela, 3-1, in San Diego. The crowd of 63,328 at Qualcomm Stadium marked the largest crowd to watch a soccer game in San Diego history according to the San Diego […]

Argentina coach Alfio Basile has called up veteran midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, who has not played for Argentina since November 2003, for a training camp of domestic-based players to continue preparations for the 2007 Copa America, where Argentina opens against the USA. Veron helped Estudiantes win the 2006 Torneo Apertura after returning home in the […]

Inter Milan's record 17-game Serie A winning streak ended Wednesday when it was held to a 1-1 tie by visiting Udinese. Udinese was the last team Inter failed to beat — they played to a 0-0 tie in late October — and took the lead in the return game on an early second-half goal by […]

Chances of the World Cup returning to the United States any time soon could depend on the outcome of a FIFA executive committee in November, on the eve of the 2010 World Cup qualifying draw in Durban, South Africa. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday that the rotation system, by which the World Cup […]

Romario, the 41-year-old Brazilian world champion of 1994 who spent last season with the USL's Miami FC, came edged closer to the 1,000-goal mark when he struck twice for Vasco da Gama in a 6-0 win against semipro Fast Club 6-0 in a Copa Brasil clash on Wednesday.

Four days after losing in the English League Cup final against Chelsea, Arsenal was ousted from the FA Cup with a 1-0 fifth-round replay loss to Blackburn, whose goalkeeper, American Brad Friedel, who denied Brazilian Julio Baptista on a couple of second-half chances. Benni McCarthy's rocket with three minutes left gave Rovers the win. On […]

According to a source, negotiations with Robbie Fowler's representatives broke down when the player's salary demands suddenly increased from $1 million to $3 million. An unidentified MLS club (not New England) was bidding to bring Fowler to MLS as a Designated Player at a salary of approximately $1 million. Fowler's contract with Liverpool expires in […]

Two decades since the southern Italian team of Napoli lured Diego Maradona into its ranks and won its first two Serie A championships, a supporters' group has come up with a plan to revive the club that now plays in Italy's second division. Napoli has no means to land a major international star, such as […]

U.S. under-16 girls national team player Mariah Nogueira and U.S. women's national team player Casey Nogueira are not sisters. Yael Averbuch played for the USA in the 2004 Under-19 Women's World Cup.

U.S. women's soccer legends Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the Player Category for the class of 2007 — the first all-female class inducted in the Player Category. The 2007 induction ceremonies will be held on Aug. 26 at the National Soccer Hall of Fame […]

Four years after the WUSA folded following three seasons, Women's Soccer Initiative, Inc., has announced the commitment of six investment groups to launch a new major pro women's soccer league in 2008. The six announced charter teams will be led by the following investors: AEG: Greater Los Angeles John Hendricks, Freedom Soccer LLC: Washington D.C. […]

Freddy Llerena, who suffered a broken leg while playing for American University in a 2003 scrimmage against D.C. United, has filed a lawsuit against D.C. United, its former investors (Anschutz Entertainment Group), MLS and Hristo Stoitchkov. The Washington Post reported that Llerena is seeking $5 million in compensatory damages from all parties and $5 million […]

The 16-team Clericus Cup kicked off at the Vatican last weekend as Mater Ecclesiae (Mother of the Church College), a team comprised mainly of Mexican priest trainees, defeated the all-Brazilian students of the Pontifical Gregorian University, 6-0. The game opened the 16-team tournament in which 311 priests and seminarians — from countries including Italy, the […]

By Ridge Mahoney Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad has agreed to terms of a four-year deal to stay in MLS after drawing some interest from foreign teams. Swedish club Lillestrom FC tendered a transfer offer of $550,000 last month that was rejected by the league, and agent Lyle Yorks said there was also interest from […]

The USA's fifth friendly of the year and final warmup before this summer's Gold Cup and Copa America will be against China at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif., June 2 (8 pm ET/5 pm PT, live on ESPN2 and Galavision. The USA and China have met seven times. The USA has won four of […]

Carlos Cordeiro is the first independent director appointed to U.S. Soccer's Board of Directors. The three ''independent director'' positions were created at last year's AGM, when the organization's Board of Directors was reduced from 40 to 15. Cordeiro was appointed in a vote of U.S. Soccer's membership at its Annual General Meeting held last weekend […]

The U.S. under-17 and under-16 girls national teams are assembling at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., where they will host Germany's under-17 national team. The U.S. U-17s and U-16s will meet March 2 before each facing Germany's U-17s twice March 4-7. Illinois powerhouse Eclipse Select leads all clubs five five players among the […]

Brazilian Rodrigo Martins Cintra has been banned indefinitely for ejecting the wrong player in a Corinthians-Rio Branco game. In the first half, Rio Branco's Josias tripped a Corinthians player but Cintra showed a yellow card to Felipe, who, because he had already been cautioned, was red-carded. ''He thought it was one player but it was […]

Mexico and Costa Rica clinched the final spots in the 2007 U-20 World Cup (July 1-22 in Canada) last weekend to complete the 24-team field. The USA qualified from Concacaf's Group A along with Panama. Mexico hosted and topped Group B play with 2-0 wins over Jamaica and St. Kitts & Nevis, before tying Costa […]