Category: Story

As it expected, the U.S. under-23 national team faces a showdown with a border rival for a spot at the 2008 Olympic Games, yet not expected is which neighbor that will be. The U.S. won Group A Saturday by squeezing past Honduras, 1-0, with a stoppage-time penalty kick from Eddie Gaven, and then it awaited the outcome in Group B, where to everyone’s amazement Canada captured second place ahead of Mexico.

[USA-HONDURAS GRADES] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. U-23 players in their 1-0 win over Honduras in Olympic qualifying on Saturday.

[OLYMPIC QUALIFYING] It was an afternoon fans won’t quickly forget at the Home Depot Center. Canada, with its hastily assembled team of no names, and Mexico, with its Golden Generation, were in a race to run up the score and earn the second berth from Group B — and a date with the USA Thursday — in the all-important semifinals of Concacaf Olympic men’s qualifying. Canada beat group winner Guatemala, 5-0, to put the pressure on Hugo Sanchez‘s Mexico U-23s, who could only beat Haiti, 5-1, in the nightcap and were eliminated. Thus ended Mexico’s dream of its first Olympic medal. Its exit immediately sparked speculation that Sanchez will be gone by the end of the month.

[MLS] New England closed out its preseason competitive schedule by playing a pair of scrimmages against Honduran club Marathon on Friday and Sunday in New Orleans.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] For the first time ever, six Americans played in an English Premier League game when Fulham edged Everton, 1-0, on Sunday. Brian McBride scored for the Cottagers on a header in the second half, beating fellow Yank Tim Howard in the Everton goal for the game’s only tally. McBride, Kasey Keller and Eddie Johnson started for Fulham, and Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey came on as substitutes. Fulham’s five Americans were a record for one EPL team.

[EUROPEAN RACES] Manchester United regained the lead in the English Premier League when it won, 1-0, at win at Derby County, while Arsenal endured its fourth straight tie with a 1-1 draw at home against Middlesbrough. United now leads the Gunners on goal difference.

[CYPRUS CUP] The U.S. under-20 women’s national team finished second at the Cyprus Cup, losing to Canada’s senior national team, 3-2, in Wednesday’s final.

The English Premier League is back in full swing this weekend with eight games televised. They include Arsenal-Middlesbrough on Saturday and Derby County-Manchester United on Sunday. In Italy, Roma needs to beat AC Milan to stay with striking distance of leader Inter Milan. Spanish leaders Real Madrid and Barcelona are at Deportivo Coruna and Almeria, respectively. For televised weekend international action …

[DATEBOOK] Memo to teams planning a visit to the North America this summer: Hurry up. The schedule is filling rapidly. Dates for the second SuperLiga tournament were announced Thursday, adding 15 matches to the days between July 12 and Aug. 5 and possibly causing conflicts yet to be foreseen, since venues for the semifinals (July 29 and 30) and final have yet to be determined. There could also be issues with SuperLiga finalists losing their Olympic players, should any be on their rosters.

[OLYMPIC QUALIFYING] Cuba’s shrinking under-23 national team was down to 10 eligible players by kickoff time Thursday night in Tampa, but its game against Honduras went ahead. Incredibly, the shorthanded Cubans held off Honduras for 68 minutes before goals from Marvin Sanchez and Hendry Thomas gave the Catrachos a 2-0 win.

The USA will have to beat Honduras on Saturday if it is to win Group B and (probably) avoid another semifinal match against Mexico with an Olympic berth on the line. Mexico will play Guatemala on Friday and Haiti on Sunday at the Home Depot Center. For the entire qualifying TV schedule …

[USA-PANAMA GRADES] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. U-23 players in their 1-0 win over Panama in Olympic qualifying on Thursday.

There isn’t a less impressive winning scoreline in soccer than a 1-0 victory courtesy of a penalty kick and not much about the match other than the result was sparkling as the USA beat Panama at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Thursday in front of a few thousand fans. But the gritty victory virtually assured the Americans passage into the semifinals of Concacaf Olympic Men’s Qualifying while eliminating Panama.

Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon and Germany’s Werder Bremen clinched the last two berths in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup. For all the results and goal scorers …