Category: Special Edition

An MLS SuperDraft record six Wake Forest players were taken in the 2008 draft held Thursday in St. Louis. They included Hermann Trophy winner Marcus Tracy, taken by Houston in the fourth round. Tracy bypassed the adidas Combine and will play instead for Danish club Aalborg. For the round-by-round SuperDraft picks …

Four players from non-Division I schools were taken in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, including two in the first round: Lynn’s Jean Alexandre (Real Salt Lake) and Tampa’s Ryan Maxwell (New England). Only three players from small colleges or JCs had previously been taken in the first round of the first 13 MLS drafts.

“I just know that [the Sounders have] some good players. I looked over the roster obviously. The main name I saw was Freddie Ljungberg, who played at Arsenal. I grew up watching him play and I’m excited about him. I don’t know yet [how I’ll fit in]. I’m just going to go over there and play. I’m confident in my abilities and what I can do. Obviously, coach [Sigi Schmid] has seen some stuff in me that he likes, and he’s got ideas and we’ll see how it works out.”

— Akron’s Steve Zakuani, a former member of English club Arsenal’s youth program, was taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.

Lacking perhaps a true standout yet well-stocked with promising talents, the pool of 60 players available in the 2009 SuperDraft were distributed among the 15 MLS teams Thursday. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reports from St. Louis

The trend in MLS is clear: teams are much more aggressive and confident in drafting players from the top college programs. Three players from Division I champion Maryland were taken in the first round and ACC rival Wake Forest landed two selections.

Americans good as gold, again
Whether the U.S. women are better, weaker or about the same without Abby Wambach is no longer relevant. By squelching Brazil, 1-0, in the Olympic gold-medal match Thursday to complete a run of five straight victories, they took a giant step away from the legacy of past U.S. teams and up to their own place in history.

[USA-BRAZIL REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performances in their 1-0 win over Brazil in Thursday’s gold-medal game …

Once again Germany came up short in Olympic women’s soccer. The two-time world champions had to settle for bronze for the third straight time. Germany beat Japan, 2-0, in Thursday’s bronze-medal game. For all the tournament results and goal scorers …

[REACTION] The American players always believed in themselves, battling back from an opening game loss to Norway to run off five straight wins and win its third Olympic gold medal in women’s soccer.

For the second straight time, the USA, Brazil and Germany were 1-2-3 in Olympic women’s soccer. For all the medalists …

“Vindicated? I feel great, I feel amazing. I just won a gold medal.”

— U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, who was dropped for last year’s semifinal game against Brazil at the Women’s World Cup — a 4-0 loss — after the 1-0 win over Brazil in the women’s soccer  gold-medal game at the Olympics. (AP)

Soccer action concludes with the men’s bronze-medal and gold-medal games. Complete soccer coverage is available on the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and online at nbcolympics.com. Check with your television provider for the availability of the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

“We’re pumped. Bring it on. We’ve played Brazil before and we know they’re a pretty awesome team with a lot of great personalities. But this team player for player is unified and strong, and we’re together. We’re looking forward to [playing Brazil].”

— U.S. midfielder Heather O’Reilly on the USA’s gold medal game on Thursday against Brazil, which eliminated the Americans from the 2007 Women’s World Cup with a 4-0 semifinal win.

[REACTION] Coach Pia Sundhage and the U.S. women look back on their win over Japan and ahead to the gold-medal clash with Brazil.

Americans to meet Brazil again for gold medal
The injury loss of Abby Wambach and a terrible start against Norway notwithstanding, anything less than a berth in the gold-medal match would have been a disappointment for the U.S. women. By beating Japan, 4-2, in its semifinal Monday the Americans have attained those expectations and set up a showdown with Brazil, which also came back after conceding the first goal to thrash Germany by nearly the same scoreline, 4-1. Brazil and the U.S. will play in the final, a rematch of the 2004 gold-medal match won by the Americans, on Thursday (USA Network, 9 a.m. ET).

[USA-JAPAN REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performances in their 4-2 win over Japan on Tuesday.

“I had a plan, but I changed my mind because the players handled it very well. There was music in the locker room and happy smiles. They were ready to go. This team coached themselves in the locker room when it was raining outside. I am very proud of that.”

— U.S. women’s head coach Pia Sundhage on how her players handled a 99-minute rain delay during their 2-1 quarterfinal win over Canada.

The Germans, like the Americans in their 2-1 win over Canada, needed overtime to subdue Sweden, 2-0 in their quarterfinal. Brazil knocked off Norway, 2-1, to set up the rematch between the teams that met in last year’s Women’s World Cup final, which Germany won, 2-0. Japan advanced to a semifinal clash with the USA with a 2-0 win over host China. For all the results and goalscorers …

“Those guys are my boys. They played so hard tonight and you can’t even express your feelings in the right way right now. For me, they won a gold medal in this game tonight. Of course, in the soccer world we still have to move on. There are a lot of things we can improve at the international level, but we’re going in the right direction. For those boys to play like that, it was quite a journey. The last five minutes with 50,000 people chanting ‘U-S-A’ was quite a feeling. … I’ll cherish this moment forever.”

— U.S. men’s coach Peter Nowak after his team was eliminated from the Olympic tournament with a 2-1 loss to Nigeria.

All Asian teams including host, and both Concacaf teams have been eliminated. The quarterfinal matchups are: Nigeria-Ivory Coast; Italy-Belgium; Argentina-Netherlands; and Brazil-Cameroon. For all the results and goal scorers …

[REACTION] Coach Peter Nowak and U.S. players discuss the disappointing loss against Nigeria, the red card to Michael Orozco that forced them to play a man down for 86 minutes, and on why they’re proud of their effort at the Games.

Soccer action resumes on Friday when the U.S. women face Canada in the quarterfinals. Complete soccer coverage is available on the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and online at nbcolympics.com. Check with your television provider for the availability of the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.