Category: Soccer America Site

In the wake of the match-fixing scandal that resulted in mighty Juventus being relegated to Serie B and four other teams, including traditional contenders AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, being penalized points in the standings, Inter Milan begins the 2006-07 season as the clear favorite to win the Italian league, which opens this weekend. Inter […]

Octavio Zambrano, who compiled one of the highest winning percentages in MLS history (.587) while at the helm of Los Angeles (1997-99) and the MetroStars (2000-02), is the new head coach of Moldova First Division club FC Tiligul. Zambrano, an Ecuador native who immigrated to the USA to play college ball, was a successful youth […]

Despite playing the last 29 minutes with 10 men, No. 5 Clemson held on for a 2-1 victory over defending champion Maryland and hand the No. 4 Terrapins their first loss of the season before 6,821 fans, the second largest crowd in Riggs Field history. Brazilian Frederico Moojen showed why he is one of college […]

ASCOLI In: Gianluca Pagliuca (goalkeeper, Bologna) Out: Igor Budan (striker, Parma), Fabio Quagliarella (striker, Sampdoria), Vittorio Tosto (defender, Empoli) ATALANTA In: Christian Vieri (striker, out of contract), Cristiano Doni (midfielder, Real Mallorca), Nelson Abeijon (defender, Cagliari), Fernando Tissone (midfielder, Udinese), Out: Luca Saudati (striker, Empoli), Rolando Bianchi (striker, Reggina) CAGLIARI In: Marco Fortin (goalkeeper, Siena), […]

American Tim Hankinson, who coached in MLS for seven seasons, has been the head coach of the Guatemalan U-17 national team since March. In mid-September, Hankinson brings his squad to Bradenton, Fla., to face the U.S. U-17s following Guatemala's tour of Mexico. ''This preparation is the biggest commitment the Guatemalan federation has made to any […]

Bongomin Otii is fast becoming one of the country's most feared strikers in the box. The freshman scored his fourth goal in four games to help No. 12 Santa Barbara beat Cal Poly, 2-0, Tuesday night in the Big West opener for both teams. He scored twice in his college debut in the Gauchos' 5-0 […]

Landon Donovan scored the go-ahead goal for defending Open Cup champion Los Angeles in its 3-1 semifinal win over the Houston Dynamo, which, when it was the San Jose Earthquakes, had been eliminated four previous times by L.A. from the Open Cup. Alan Gordon, who notched two goals last weekend for the Galaxy in MLS […]

North Carolina, ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Men's Top 25, lost its first game of the season when it fell to N.C. State, 3-1, in the ACC opener. Santiago Fusilier connected on a 35-yard strike in the 72nd minute, and freshman Alan Sanchez followed with a penalty kick goal five minutes later to […]

Alabama A&M goalie Mlondi Mdluli, who started the first two games of the 2006 college season before returning to his native Swaziland, was killed Monday night when the Toyota Corolla he was driving drove into a ditch and then hit a concrete wall. Three other passengers — two former soccer players and a female companion […]

MEN'S PLAYER OF THE WEEK F Joseph Lapira (Notre Dame) MEN'S TEAM OF THE WEEK G Nick Noble (West Virginia) D Ben Howe (Central Connecticut) D Alan O'Hara (Clemson) D Chris Schuler (Creighton) M Adrian Chevannes (SMU) M John DiRaimondo (Saint Louis) M Stephen King (Maryland) F Andre Akpan (Harvard) F Kevin Forrest (Washington) F […]

No. 8 Virginia Tech, one of seven unbeaten and untied ACC men's teams, improved its record to 4-0-0 with a 1-0 win over William & Mary. Sophomore Scott Dillie's header off a beautiful Patrick Nyarko cross in the 13th minute was the lone goal. Soccer interest is running high in Blacksburg, where 1,411 fans, the […]

WOMEN'S PLAYER OF THE WEEK F Kelsey Carpenter (Texas) WOMEN'S TEAM OF THE WEEK G Karen Bardsley (Cal State Fullerton) D Lauren Bresnahan (Navy) D Kelly Rowland (Florida State) M Yael Averbuch (North Carolina) M Jill Krivacek (Notre Dame) M Shari Summers (Stanford) F Kelsey Carpenter (Texas) F Amanda Cinalli (Notre Dame) F Nikki Marshall […]

Notre Dame forwards Joseph Lapira and Amanda Cinalli swept the Soccer America Player of the Week awards. Lapira topped off a career day on Sunday with his fourth goal of the game in overtime to give the Irish a 5-4 victory over Indiana before 5,613 fans at the Hoosiers' Armstrong Stadium. Lapira, the Soccer America […]

Group A Sept. 6 Poland 1 (Matusiak 30) Serbia 1 (Lazovic 71). Finland 1 (Johansson 21) Portugal 1 (Nuno Gomes 41). Armenia 0 Belgium 1 (van Buyten 41). Azerbaijan 1 (Ladaga 16) Kazakhstan 1 (Byakov 36). Group B Sept. 6 France 3 (Govou 2, 56, Henry 17) Italy 1 (Gilardino 19). Lithuania 1 (Miceika 85) […]

Will Lunn has resigned as president of the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame after a decade in the position and 16 years of serving the Hall of Fame. A search committee for the new president is being formed. In the interim, board secretary and Hall of Famer George Brown (Class of 1995) will serve […]

After going into the 2006 World Cup as a consensus favorite and falling in the quarterfinals, Brazil chose former hard man midfielder Dunga to put the Samba boys back on track. Dunga brought several new faces to the squad to play two friendlies in London and started two almost entirely different lineups in wins on […]

Police in Trenton, Ohio, arrested two women for allegedly smoking marijuana while at their children's soccer practice. The two soccer moms were accused of sharing a joint in a minivan in the parking lot, according to WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. The police, responding to complaints, smelled the marijuana and discovered a joint in one of the […]

Gunmen kidnapped Iraqi soccer star Ghanim Khudheyir just days before he was due to sign a transfer to a Syrian club to escape the raging violence in his homeland. The 22-year-old Khudheyir, a striker who helped Al Quwa Al Jawiya, the Iraqi Air Force club, win the first post-war championship in 2005, was taken from […]

After the Colorado Rapids beat Real Salt Lake, 1-0, in an ill-tempered game, Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni taunted the Salt Lake crowd and made obscene gestures on what was a Youth Soccer Night that drew more than 17,000 fans to Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mastroeni's behavior also prompted a confrontation with Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts that […]

France's emphatic 3-1 victory over Italy Wednesday night in Euro 2008 qualifying doesn't make up for its loss to Italy on penalty kicks in the 2006 World Cup. Nor does it mean the Bleus have clear sailing to the Euro 2008 final, which will take place in Austria and Switzerland. ''There are still 10 matches […]

Of the 10 women's conferences that sent two or more teams to the 2005 NCAA Division I Tournament and have played two full weeks, the ACC has the best record in non-conference play. Only the Big Ten has a sub-.500 record in non-conference action in games through Sept. 3. Of the 10 conferences, the Big […]

NCAA Division II men's regional power Tusculum canceled its season after several members of the team were accused of taking an undisclosed amount of money and food from concessions they operated as a program fundraiser at the recent NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway. The money was returned and no charges were filed by law […]

For the second time in eight days, No. 3 Virginia beat a West Coast power. The Cavs (4-0-0) downed No. 10 UCLA, 1-0, Monday night on German star Yannick Reyering's goal from 10 yards off Nico Colaluca's corner kick in the 88th minute. It was the Cavaliers' fourth straight shutout, while the Bruins fell to […]

By Mike WoitallaExecutive Editor, Soccer America Argentina is second only to Brazil in supplying talent to leagues around the world, and now Argentine players are making their mark in MLS. Facundo Erpen (D.C. United)A GOOD FIT Elvira Erpen can be proud of her son. Facundo Erpen has been in the USA for a year and […]

Lindenwood upset defending NAIA men's champion Lindsey Wilson, 3-1, thanks to two goals by Spaniard Juan Lapido and one goal by Endi Dragicevic. In other NAIA action, No. 4 Grand Canyon edged No. 5 Auburn-Montgomery, 1-0, on freshman midfielder Jason Massie's goal in the final game of the AUM Classic. Messiah opened the defense of […]