Category: Story

Brazil has recalled Kaka to its roster for next month’s World Cup qualifiers with Venezuela and Colombia, but his AC Milan teammate Ronaldinho has again been left out.

Beckham: We’re Running Out of Games

David Beckham once famously confessed that he had difficulty helping his 6-year-old son with his math homework. But the L.A. Galaxy midfielder has worked out that there are only four games left in the MLS regular season, and that L.A. is in danger of missing the playoffs again. "Our confidence may have been too high […]

‘In America They Want You To Play Simple’

Attack, attack, attack, former U.S. international Phillip Gyau always taught his son Joseph. After years of attending youth soccer camps in Brazil, the 16-year-old now looks set to more than follow in his father's footsteps, writes Justin Rodriguez. Gyau Senior still shows his son videos of Diego Maradona, Pelé and Ronaldo to illustrate his philosophy […]

Soccer on TV., Story

Soccer on TV

Weekend action starts Friday with men’s college ball. The MLS slate includes a clash between the league’s top two teams: New England and Columbus. International games include the Mexico’s Guadalajara derby while Spain powers Real Madrid and Barcelona feature in back-to-back games on Gol TV.

Euro expansion will dilute quality

by Ian PlenderleithSeptember 26, 2008

[EUROPE] Never mind the quality, feel the breadth. Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA will vote Friday to expand the European Championships from 16 to 24 finalists, beginning 2016.

Hoffenheim’s Hopp wants a stop to the abuse

by Ian PlenderleithSeptember 26, 2008

[GERMANY] The remarkable rise to the heights of the Bundesliga by German small-town team 1899 Hoffenheim has had its ugly side too. The team’s local benefactor Dietmar Hopp has been subject to sustained verbal abuse from opposition fans, but he’s not the kind of man to take it lying down.

Blanco outshines Beckham, so does Rolfe

[MLS] The league’s two biggest foreign stars faced off when the Los Angeles Galaxy traveled to Chicago, and in front of a sellout crowd of 20,156, Cuauhtemoc Blanco stole the show from David Beckham in a 3-1 Fire win. Blanco was involved in the passing sequences that led to both of Chris Rolfe‘s goals and the Mexican scored one himself in between.

USA convenes for Futsal World Cup

[ROSTER] U.S. coach Keith Tozer and his 14-man squad have arrived in Rio de Janeiro where the USA will compete in the FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Brazil leaves out Ronaldinho

[WORLD CUP 2010] Brazil coach Dunga, who’s clinging on to his job after poor results and dismal play in general, has named a 22-man squad for next month’s qualifiers against Venezuela and Colombia that doesn’t included AC Milan’s Ronaldinho

MLS TV Schedule

Toronto FC, which didn’t get a single shot on goal in last week’s 2-0 loss to Kansas City and is winless in its last five games, faces defending champ Houston. … The league’s top two teams meet when Columbus (the only team that has clinched a playoff spot) travels to New England, which lost to the Crew, 4-0, on Sept. 6. … New York, whose Juan Pablo Angel has scored eight goals in his last 10 games, hosts Colorado. … San Jose, on a nine-game unbeaten streak, hosts Real Salt Lake. … Kansas City aims to keep playoff hopes alive when it faces Chivas USA. … On Sunday, D.C. United defends its spot just inside the playoff zone when it meets FC Dallas. For all this weekend’s TV Schedule, standings and leading goalscorers …

MORNING BRIEFING: Phenom Agorsor lost for year

by Paul KennedySeptember 26, 2008

Freshman phenom Chris Agorsor’s first season at Virginia has ended after six games. Agorsor, the 2008 U.S. Soccer Development Academy U/17-18 Player of the Year, has likely torn both his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee.

SCOREBOARD: Soccer America Men’s Top 25

[WEEKEND UPDATE] No. 1 Wake Forest rallied to beat No. 3 Maryland, 4-2, Friday before 6,500 fans. No. 2 Connecticut fell at No. 6 St. John’s, 3-1. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

MORNING BRIEFING: UCLA held by Santa Clara

by Paul KennedySeptember 26, 2008

No. 2 UCLA was held to a 0-0 tie by unranked Santa Clara on Thursday evening at Buck Shaw Stadium. ALSO: ACC upset, Tobin Heath hat trick and the rest of the Top 25 action.

CONFERENCE WATCH: Big 12

With four teams in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 — No. 7 Texas, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 16 Oklahoma State and No. 19 Kansas — and two teams on the edge — Colorado and Missouri — the Big 12 is one of the strongest women’s conferences in the country. Big 12 teams have winning records against teams from such powerful conferences as the ACC (2-1-0), Big East (3-1-0), SEC (5-4-1) and WCC (3-0-0). Conference play begins in earnest Friday with Texas hosting Texas A&M before what could be a record Longhorn crowd.

SCOREBOARD: Soccer America Women’s Top 25

[WEEKEND UPDATE] The number of unbeaten and untied teams are down to three following No. 17 Minnesota’s 2-0 loss to Michigan State. No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 7 LSU and No. 16 Oklahoma State all won. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 results and schedules …

POLLS: NSCAA/adidas High School Boys Rankings

Sacramento Jesuit, which took over first in the NSCAA/adidas high school boys national rankings, has earned out-of-state wins over Portland (Ore.) Jesuit (2-0), Albuquerque (N.M.) La Cueva (3-1) and Albuquerque (N.M.) St. Pius (5-1). Last week’s No. 1 Kansas City Rockhurst lost in a shootout to area rival St. Thomas Aquinas before a crowd estimated to be more than 4,000. For the complete Top 25 …

POLLS: NSCAA/adidas High School Girls Rankings

The Pennington School, No. 1 in the NSCAA/adidas high school girls national rankings, improved to 5-0-0 with wins over Lawrenceville (5-0) and Montclair (2-0). For the complete Top 25 …

U.S. Soccer Development Academy Results

The Schulz Academy improved to 4-0-1 in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s U/15-16 age group with wins over the visiting Bridge FA and Virginia Rush. For all of last weekend’s results:

Dallas powers kick off Academy play

by Paul KennedySeptember 25, 2008

The soccer hotbed missing from last year’s U.S. Soccer Development Academy was Dallas. Indeed, no Texas team took part in the inaugural season, but that has changed. The first games took place last weekend in the Central Conference’s Texas Division.

U.S. U-17 boys national team sweeps matches at Nomads

The U.S. U-17 boys national team swept matches at Southern California’s Nomads in the second of a series of stops at U.S. Soccer Development Academy clubs.

Merger mania hits Florida

The move for clubs to merge and form super clubs is gaining momentum in Florida.

U.S. Club Soccer National Cup VIII Regional Sites

The 2009 National Cup VIII Regionals return to seven of the same locations as the 2008 event. Once again, the Modesto, Calif., and Pittsgrove, N.J., regionals will be divided into separate weekends for boys and girls. For the 2009 regionals …

Eleven Big Issues Facing MLS

The Web site for the U.S. national team players’ association sets out 11 issues that Major League Soccer needs to tackle in an editorial well worth reading in full. The list starts with player relations and pay, the league not having done “even the little things that a front office worker would expect” for its […]

Magee Turns His Season Around

New York’s Mike Magee is the team’s longest serving player at just 24 years old. After being tipped as a future U.S. national team star in his teens, he had also disappeared off the radar these past two years thanks to a series of injuries, writes Chris Celletti. Now he’s returned to the starting lineup […]

Hyndman’s ‘Favorite’ Promises More