Category: Story

San Jose midfielder and columnist Kelly Gray says that one of the great things about MLS is the camaraderie among players of different teams. Although he doesn’t mention if he’s yet spotted Dema Kovalenko and Ronnie O’Brien sharing a beer.

The Man Behind The Message Board

Interview with Big Soccer founder Jesse Hertzberg.

South African Current Account Deficit Weakens Rand

South African imports rose “as the government stepped up spending on stadiums, roads and power plants as the country prepares to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.” The consequences include a current account deficit exceeding seven per cent for the fourth consecutive quarter, and a weakened rand. One analysts says the rand is “in big […]

Rocha Still Upset At Substitutions

FC Dallas midfielder Andre Rocha and his coach Schellas Hyndman had supposedly ironed out their differences last week after the Brazilian-born playmaker had shown he was upset at being so frequently substituted. Yet Rocha told Diego Aparicio Wednesday that he wonders whether or not he will get to play a full game this season. […]

Schmid: MLS Rosters Need More Depth

The top two teams in MLS will meet at Crew Stadium this weekend when Columbus hosts the New England Revolution. Shawn Mitchell generously labels it “the most anticipated Major League Soccer game of the week, perhaps even the season,” although New England, who will head to Ohio trying to forget the 4-0 home spanking by […]

U.S. U-17 boys residency program adds 17 new players

by Paul KennedySeptember 4, 2008

In a shakeup of the U.S. under-17 national team residency program, Coach Wilmer Cabrera and his staff have brought in 17 new players for the 2008 fall semester of the 40-player program in Bradenton, Fla. For the complete roster …

Meet the new U.S. U-17 residents

The U.S. under-17 national team staff has recruited one of the largest incoming classes in the history of the residency program, which was launched in 1999. Here’s a look at the new players …

RISING STAR: Chivas USA’s Omar Becerra

Omar Becerra joined the Chivas USA U-18 team through Sueno MLS, a program that offers a series of open tryouts for professional soccer hopefuls. Becerra traveled three times a week from his home in San Diego, where he has a young daughter and attended an alternative high school, to Bell Gardens, a community about five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, where Chivas practiced.

Cal South star signs with Mexico’s Tigres

Oscar Lopez, who played for Cal South at the 2008 U.S. Youth Soccer ODP National Championships, has left his home in West Covina, Calif., to join Tigres of the Mexican First Division.

Top-ranked boys prep team slumps

Raleigh (N.C.) Broughton High School, the top-ranked boys team in the 2007 NSCAA/adidas High School National Rankings, had its 54-game unbeaten ended when it lost to Roberson, 1-0, on Saturday in a battle of North Carolina prep powers at the Mellow Mushroom Tournament in Boone.

IN HER OWN WORDS: South Carolina’s Blakely Mattern

Blakely Mattern is the star of the South Carolina women’s defense that has yet to give up a goal in three games — marking the first time the Gamecocks have opened with three straight shutouts. Mattern, one of only four players to have played every minute of every game, was the 2007 SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. She recaps USC’s pre-season preparations and the excitement of opening the season and being introduced at halftime of the South Carolina-N.C. State football game before more than 80,000 fans.

SCOREBOARD: Soccer America Men’s Top 25

This weekend’s Men’s Top 25 action includes a pair of games involving top 10 teams — Indiana-South Florida at Notre Dame’s Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament Friday and California-SMU at the Cal Legacy Classic Sunday. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

MORNING BRIEFING: Stanford freshmen are sensational

by Paul KennedySeptember 4, 2008

No. 6 Stanford is getting big play out of its freshmen. Teresa Noyola, considered one of the best playmakers to enter college in the last decade, is just one of three first-year players to have a big impact on the Farm.

UPDATE: LSU forced to cancel tournament

LSU, No. 17 in the Soccer America Top 25, has had to cancel its Tiger Classic because the LSU Soccer Complex suffered considerable damage from Hurricane Gustav.

MORNING BRIEFING: UConn gets scare

by Paul KennedySeptember 4, 2008

No. 2 Connecticut’s high-powered attack went silent on Wednesday night. It needed an own goal in the 75th minute to beat Stony Brook, 1-0, in Storrs.

D.C. fends off Battery to claim 12th title

by Ridge MahoneySeptember 4, 2008

[U.S. OPEN CUP] Nothing has come easy for D.C. United this season, so its loud, boisterous celebrations after defeating Charleston in the U.S. Open Cup were entirely genuine.

Toe injury sidelines Cristman for season

by Ridge MahoneySeptember 4, 2008

[MLS] The Revs may be the deepest team MLS but one of their more valuable role players won’t play again this season.

Islanders pull upset with miracle comeback

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] The Puerto Rico Islanders rallied for two goals in the last three minutes to beat former champion Alajuelense, 2-1, and give the USL First Division two teams in the group stage of the Concacaf Champions League — the same as MLS will have.

German clubs cut back on spending

[TRANSFER TALK] In contrast to the wild dealing in England, German clubs spent cautiously on the summer transfer market, which closed at midnight on Monday. Bundesliga spending reached 150 million euros ($217 million) — less than a quarter of the money spent in England.

Bay Area in, Dallas out (until 2010)

[WPS] Weeks before its first player moves will be made, Women’s Professional Soccer, the new women’s league, announced Wednesday that it will add a team in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009 and its Dallas team will start in 2010, not 2009 as planned.

Production absent from U.S. frontline

by Mike WoitallaSeptember 4, 2008

For the USA’s first game in Cuba since 1947, Coach Bob Bradley has brought in players based in Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and Mexico — in addition to seven MLS-based men. The experienced squad — half of the 20 players have more than 30 caps — aims for a second straight win in the semifinal group phase of qualifying when it faces the Cubans on Saturday. Less suspenseful than whether the USA can beat a team ranked No. 71 in the world is whether the USA’s frontline finally finds its form.

CUBA DIARY: What soccer game?

by Mike WoitallaSeptember 4, 2008

Mike Woitalla reports from Havana
In the hotel lobby of the Parque Central in Old Havana, the television is tuned to CNN, with coverage of the Republican Convention. Later in the evening, security guard Gustavo switches to ESPN for the Red Sox-Cleveland game. Gustavo, although a fervid baseball fan, is one of the few Cubans I’ve met so far who is aware that Cuba hosts the USA in a World Cup qualifying game on Saturday.

Special Editions for Saturday’s Cuba-USA match

Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla is in Havana to cover Saturday’s Cuba-USA World Cup qualifier (kickoff: 8 pm ET). Special editions of Soccer America Daily will appear on Saturday and Sunday with coverage before and after the game.

Carver ‘Gobsmacked’ By MLS Refusal To Postpone Game

by Soccer AmericaSeptember 3, 2008

There are a number of scheduling reasons why Major League Soccer keeps playing through FIFA’s international calendar. But having lost nine players to World Cup qualifying duty this coming weekend, Toronto FC coach John Carver wishes that the league would be more flexible in granting him a postponement. “I’ve had some challenges in my life,” […]