[GRANTS] The Michigan Host Committee Foundation, formed following the successful staging of four World Cup 1994 games at the Pontiac Silverdome, has announced $140,000 in grants for inner city soccer programs, its final grants.
Category: Story
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Seattle and Schmid officially join up
[MLS] Sighs of relief, hearty handshakes, jokes and reminisces, and a few tears highlighted the official announcement Tuesday of Seattle Sounders FC landing Sigi Schmid as its head coach.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA-Mexico, Act III in Columbus
USA-Mexico, Act III in Columbus will take place Feb. 11 when the Concacaf rivals will meet at Crew Stadium in the opening game of the Hexagonal, the final round of World Cup 2010 qualifying in the Concacaf zone.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
WPS to open at Home Depot Center
[DATEBOOK] The inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer match will take lace on March 29, 2009, when the Los Angeles Sol hosts the Washington Freedom at The Home Depot Center with live television coverage on Fox Soccer Channel.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ince gets the boot at Blackburn
[ENGLAND] Blackburn Rovers has fired Paul Ince, the Premier League’s first British black manager, after only six months on the job.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
More U.S. Soccer awards announced
[AWARDS] U.S. Soccer has announced the winners of the 2008 Best of U.S. Soccer awards presented by Soccer America in four more categories. The winners for Best Assist, Best all-access Video, Best Performance: Player and Best Goal: Academy were selected by fans in online voting at ussoccer.com. The winners are …
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ziege Resigns At Moenchengladbach
Christian Ziege, assistant coach at Michael Bradley's Bundesliga team Borussia Moenchengladbach, has resigned just days after the team finished bottom of the German league at the season's halfway point. The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich player was reportedly unhappy at having too little say in team matters. Also, his head coach Hans Meyer, appointed in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Friedel Could Have Saved Ince At Blackburn
The question is not so much whether Blackburn Rovers was right to sack manager Paul Ince on Tuesday, writes Paul Wilson. Rather, should the club have appointed him in the first place? Like the appointment of Roy Keane at Sunderland, Ince's recruitment was "risky," he says, because "in both cases the club boards seemed to […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Holden Is DeRo’s Ready-Made Replacement
The Houston Dynamo let Dwayne De Rosario leave for Toronto FC last week because it knew his ideal replacement was already on the roster, writes Bernardo Fallas. That player is Stuart Holden, "the Scotland native and Houston-area product who has turned heads since his rookie season." "I've been waiting three years to earn a starting […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Boos For The ‘Big Four’ Are Music To Many
"It is cheering to hear the boos" that have been greeting the home performances of league-leading Liverpool and Chelsea in recent weeks, writes Kevin McCarra. Although the EPL's Big Four' occupy four of the top five spots, their faltering form and the threat of financial insecurity that hangs over their debt-carrying heads are good news […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ferguson Blasts 39th Game
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has dismissed renewed interest in proposals to play a 39th Premier League game abroad. "I don't think there will ever be a 39th game and I don't believe there should be," Ferguson told reporters Tuesday after his team's arrival in Japan for the Club World Cup. "Certainly I'm not in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
FIFA To Approve UK Olympic Team
“FIFA’s rulers are set to formally approve a Great Britain football team for the London 2012 Olympics later this week despite opposition from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,” writes Martyn Ziegler. The three smaller countries fear that taking part in a unified British team would eventually threaten their independent status.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Decision Time For Kenny Cooper
"My feeling is, it may come to a point where the team comes first and it's, 'Kenny, you're here no matter what. You've had this opportunity, but this has gone on a little too long. We don't want to lose you, but we've given you that chance to find something else and it hasn't worked […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Spanish Door Still Open For Raul
"I am reluctant to put up a barrier to Raul and tell him that he will not return to the national team." Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says that the 31-year-old Real Madrid striker could still play for his country. The player has scored 44 times in 102 international appearances, but last played for the […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Tevez Ready To Sign New United Deal
"I'm at the best club in the world and fighting for your position is normal." Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez says that he's happy at Old Trafford, despite not being a regular starter, and that he expects to sign a long term contract soon.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Would Owen Be A Fit For Arsenal?
"Someone who should be casting his eye on [Michael] Owen is Arsene Wenger. In 2001, he prematurely hailed the injury-prone flop Francis Jeffers as the 'fox in the box' his side needed — and he has been looking for a penalty area specialist ever since." Rich Evans ponders the next move for England striker Owen, […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
College policies need overhaul
With the college season concluded and the MLS Combine and 2009 SuperDraft just a few weeks away, the time is ripe for the league to revise its policies regarding college players. But it won’t. A league that has coupled its SuperDraft with the NSCAA Convention to rake in a decent crowd for the proceedings has systemically and shamelessly hacked away at the college game.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Stanford’s Taylor heads All-Freshman team
[SOCCER AMERICA AWARDS] Stanford forward Lindsay Taylor, who tied for the team lead with 16 goals for the NCAA Division I semifinalist, is the 2008 Soccer America Freshman of the Year. For the 2008 Soccer America All-Freshman teams …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
UPDATE: College Cup quartet called into under-20 national team camp
Four players who played at the 2008 Men’s College Cup have been called into the U.S. under-20 national team training camp that began Monday in Sunrise, Fla. Wake Forest’s Ike Opara and Daniel Wenzel and North Carolina’s Kirk Urso and Sheanon Williams were among the 26 players called into the camp that lasts through Dec. 22.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Carolina’s Nogueira named Women’s Player of the Year
[SOCCER AMERICA AWARDS] Casey Nogueira, whose two goals gave North Carolina a 2-1 win over North Dame for her second national championship in three years, is the 2008 Soccer America Women’s Player of the Year. The daughter of indoor goalkeeping great Victor Nogueira becomes the 10th different Tar Heel to win Soccer America Women’s Player of the Year honors.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America Women’s MVPs
[SOCCER AMERICA AWARDS] Soccer America’s 2008 Women’s MVP awards are highlighted by four holdovers from the 2006 and 2007 teams. First-team picks Christina DiMartino (UCLA) and Kerri Hanks (Notre Dame) and second-team selections Yael Averbuch (North Carolina) and Kasey Moore (Texas) were selected for the third year in a row. For all the 2008 Soccer America MVPs …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Stanford’s Ratcliffe named Women’s Coach of the Year
[SOCCER AMERICA AWARDS] In his sixth season at Stanford, Coach Paul Ratcliffe has built the Cardinal program into one of the best in the country. Its 2008 performance earned him Soccer America Women’s Coach of the Year honors.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Schmid and Seattle finally team up
The long, twisting saga of Seattle FC’s pursuit of Sigi Schmid will end Tuesday with the official announcement of his hiring, a day after MLS imposed a penalty on the expansion team for unspecified improprieties.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Sundhage signs four-year deal
[U.S. WOMEN] When she took the job as head coach of the U.S. women’s team 13 months ago, Pia Sundhage signed a deal that guaranteed her only nine months of employment. Upon an exhaustive review following the team’s gold-medal performance at the Olympic Games, which U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati indicated took about 30 seconds, negotiations began for a longer alliance. Monday came the official announcement that she will be in place until the next Olympics, scheduled for 2012 in London. In the meantime, Sundhage laid out plans for 2009 …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Women’s league lands major sponsor
[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer unveiled its first major sponsorship with Monday’s announcement that Puma would be a founding partner of WPS and an official sponsor of all WPS teams. Amid a difficult economic climate, the deal is a coup for WPS, which kicks off its first season in 2009.