Category: Soccer America Site

William Fisher Palo Alto, Calif. I see so many suggestions on how MLS can improve itself. Most sound trivial to me. The major goal of MLS should be to make itself attractive to a nice television contract. I think eliminating schedule uncertainties in the playoffs could help. A solution exists that is even soccer-centric. To […]

Group E Oct. 26 in Madrid Real Madrid 3, Olympiakos Piraeus 0 Goals: Raul 20, Morientes 63, Roberto Carlos 82. Oct. 26 in Oporto Porto 3 Molde 1 Goals: Deco Sousa 1, 27, Jardel 57; Hestad 82. TEAM GP W T L GF GA P Q-Porto 5 4 0 1 9 5 12 Q-Real Madrid […]

Colorado Rapids defender Marcelo Balboa is more concerned with his team’s horrible scoring slump than frenzied Los Angeles fans angry after the U.S. national veteran was involved in another controversial incident with a Galaxy player. Homecomings should be heartfelt, not hostile, yet Marcelo Balboa had much more on his mind than the boos and whistles […]

Here is the Soccer America men’s Top 20, taking into account games played through Oct. 24: Rank/Team Record Last Week 1. Indiana 13-2-0 1 2. UCLA 13-1-0 2 3. Duke 9-0-3 7 4. SW Missouri 14-0-1 5 5. Wake Forest 10-0-4 9 6. Furman 13-1-1 8 7. Penn State 13-2-0 11 8. Maryland 11-4-0 6 […]

The U.S. men’s national team will play a friendly match against Morocco on Nov. 17. The match will be played in Casablanca or Rabat, pending confirmation from the Moroccan soccer federation. The friendly against Morocco will mark Coach Bruce Arena’s eighth test against a nation that played in France ’98. Morocco advanced to France ’98 […]

Here is the Soccer America women’s Top 20, taking into account games played through Oct. 24: Rank/Team Record Last Week 1. Santa Clara 17-0-0 1 2. North Carolina 15-2-0 2 3. Florida 16-1-0 3 4. Nebraska 16-1-1 4 5. Penn State 14-2-1 5 6. Notre Dame 13-3-0 6 7. Stanford 13-3-0 8 8. USC 12-4-0 […]

Jerry Richards Fontana, Calif. This is a comment/suggestion: Soccer is not considered a high-scoring game and thus seems to deter people in the U.S. from going to games. My suggestion is to limit the offside law to the penalty area. That way forwards could go to the end lines, forcing defenders to spread out some […]

I’ve given up trying to explain MLS to my sports-fan friends who aren’t versed in the nuances and beauties of single-entity and multiple ownerships. The hiring of Sunil Gulati was the last straw. They asked me how one man could, in effect, control player matters for both teams? And isn’t this the same all-powerful poobah […]

Norm Pollock Syosset, N.Y. The San Jose Clash finished its MLS season with 19 wins and 13 losses. Yet it did not make the pool of eight playoff teams in the 12 team league and therefore is not eligible to win the season’s championship. Its 19-13 record is better than the records of at least […]

Here’s a look at MLS quarterfinal schedules with TV information as of Oct. 14. Date Matchup Kickoff (ET) Television Oct. 22 Columbus at Tampa Bay 7:00 Fox Sports Ohio Oct. 23 Dallas at Chicago 8:00 KXTX-Channel 39 (Dallas) Oct. 24 Los Angeles at Colorado 3:00 ESPN Oct. 24 D.C. United at Miami 1:00 Univision Oct. […]

Groups Group A — Jamaica, Colombia, Honduras — Miami. Group B — USA, Peru, Haiti — Miami. Group C — Mexico, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago — San Diego. Group D — Costa Rica, South Korea, Canada — Los Angeles. Schedule Feb. 12 — Group A: USA vs. Haiti (7:00 p.m.); Group B: Colombia vs. Jamaica […]

GROUP E Oct. 20 in Oporto Porto 2 (Portugal) Real Madrid (Spain) 1. Goals: Jardel 13, 35; own goal (Peixe) 68. Half: 2-0. Att: 32,000 Oct. 20 in Molde Molde (Norway) 3 Olympiakos Greece 2. Goals: Lund 55, 59, Berg Hestad 74; Mavrogenidis 36, Zahovic 40. Half: 0-2. Att: 10,230 CLUB GP W T L […]

D.C. United holds a clear edge, but no team in the final eight looks solid from top to bottom Amid a distinct lack of play- off buzz, and with football lines striped across most of the playing fields, comes Year 4 of the postseason. By the time it ends in Foxboro Nov. 21, eight months […]

The exploits of the U.S. U-17 national team at the FIFA U-17 World Championship (Nov. 10-27) will be televised in the USA by Fox Sports World and pay-per-view. The U.S. Soccer Federation acquired the rights, in conjunction with Nike and Innovative Sports Marketing, for the New Zealand-hosted U-17 World Cup that the United States enters […]

UEFA CUP Second Round, First Leg Oct. 19 in Thessaloniki Aris Salonika (Greece) 2 (Andreoli 45, Kyzeridis 68) Celta Vigo (Spain) 2 (Karpin 40, 41). Half: 1-2. Att.: 18,000. Oct. 19 in Udine Udinese (Italy) 1 (Carlos Sosa 29) Legia Warsaw (Poland) 0. Half: 1-0. Att.: 22,000. Oct. 19 in La Coruna Deportivo Coruna (Spain) […]

Adrian Bedoya Gainesville, Fla. Why does MLS tend to let players go on free transfers when their contracts have run out (e.g. Tony Sanneh). Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Bosman Ruling only applies to transactions between teams in Europe. Mike Woitalla: First of all Adrian, let’s revisit the Bosman Ruling, named after Belgian […]

Jonathan Parnes San Antonio,Texas. Which colleges won the last five men’ s (1995-99) NAIA championships? Mike Woitalla: Jonathan, this year’s men’s NAIA championship will be played Nov. 18-23 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information, you can visit the website: www.naia.org. Here’s all the champs since 1971: 1971 Quincy. 1972 Westmont. 1973 Quincy. 1974 Quincy. […]

WOMEN’S NCAA DIVISION II Central Region 1 North Dakota State 11-1-1 DA MN-Morris 8-0, DH Rocky Mountain 10-0 2 Northern Kentucky 13-2-0 DH MO-Rolla 3-1 3 Minnesota State 9-4-1 DH St. Cloud State 2-1 4 St. Joseph’s 11-4-1 DH Southern Indiana 2-1, DH SIU-E 3-1 5 Winona State 11-3-0 DA Bemijidi State 8-1, DA UMN-Duluth […]

POSITION/PLAYER G Meghann Burke (Saint Louis) (1) Blanked Evansville, Memphis, GAA now 0.64 D Shannon Blair (N.C. State) (1) Golden goal and assist in win over Duke D Wynter Pero (Wisconsin) (1) Hit gamewinner to beat Michigan M Carly Fuller (Duke) (1) Golden goal upset Wake Forest M Emily Janss (Maryland) (2) Senior scored twice […]

WOMEN’S NCAA DIVISION III Central Region 1 Macalester 13-2-0 DA Emory 3-1, LN TCNJ 1-2, DH St. Thomas 1-0 2 Washington U. 12-2-0 DH Maryville 2-0, DA Calvin 1-0, DA St. Mary’s (IN) 6-0 3 WI-Stevens Point 13-2-0 DH Edgewood 6-0, DH Superior 13-0 4 Gustavus Adolphus 11-1-1 TA Chicago 1-1, DA Elmhurst 3-2 4 […]

MEN’S NCAA DIVISION II Central Region 1 Lewis 11-2-2 DH Quincy 1-0, DH UMSL 1-0 2 Truman State 10-2-1 DA Rockhurst 2-0, DA Missouri Southern 3-0 3 IUP-Fort Wayne 10-2-2 DH Huntington 4-0, DA Kentucky Wesleyan 5-0 4 WI-Parkside 10-3-1 DH UMSL 1-0, DH Quincy 2-1 5 Rockhurst 9-4-1 DA Quincy 1-0, LH Truman State […]

MEN’S NCAA DIVISION III Great Lakes Region 1 Otterbein 13-1-0 DA Ohio Northern 1-0, DH Mount Union 1-0 2 Denison 10-2-1 DA Wabash 2-1, DH Earlham 4-1 3 Heidelberg 13-1-0 LH John Carroll 1-2, DA Ohio Dominican 2-1 4 Allegheny 9-2-2 DH Kenyon 1-0 5 Earlham 13-1-0 LA Denison 1-4 6 Wilmington 11-4-0 DA Ohio […]

WOMEN’S NCAA DIVISION I Central Region 1 Nebraska 14-1-1 DH Kansas 8-1, DH Missouri 5-1 2 Texas A&M 12-4-0 DH Colorado 2-0, DH Florida State 2-1 2 Missouri 11-4-0 DA Iowa State 4-3, LA Nebraska 1-5 4 SMU 10-5-0 LA Fresno State 1-3, LA San Jose State 0-1 5 Baylor 11-5-0 DA Oklahoma 2-1, DA […]

POSITION/PLAYER G Matt Hall (San Diego) (1) 11 saves in win over Santa Clara D Chris Gbandi (Connecticut) (2) Anchored defense, assist against Georgetown D David Williams (Saint Louis) (1) Led defense in tight wins over UMKC and UNCC M Stephen Rodriguez (Furman) (1) 2 of 4 goals vs. Appalachian State and UNCG M Doak […]

GROUP A Oct. 19 in Maribor Maribor Teatanic (Slovenia) 0 Lazio (Italy) 4. Goals: Mihajlovic 34, Inzaghi 50, 74, Stankovic 63. Half: 0-1. Att.: 10,000. Oct. 19 in Kiev Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) 4 Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) 2. Goals: Kosovsky 4, Shatskikh 36, Holovko 61, Vashchyuk 89; Kirsten 12, Neuville 49. Half: 2-1. Att.: 40,000. CLUB […]