Barcelona star Ronaldinho has been heavily criticized for his form so far this season, but the Brazilian was one of the brightest lights in an otherwise tentative display by the Catalans at Valladolid on Thursday. The two-time FIFA World Player of the Year was happy to score his first goal from open play this season, […]
Category: Story
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
This weekend’s MLS playoff action, which starts tonight in Texas, will determine the 2007 final four. English Premier League leaders Arsenal and Manchester United meet Saturday morning (Setanta Sports USA). Also in the EPL, Americans meet when Fulham takes on Reading on Saturday (Fox Soccer Channel).
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Projecting the NCAA Division I men’s field
The NCAA has released its second RPI for NCAA Division I men’s teams. Soccer America examines the 48 teams that would made the NCAA Tournament as of the NCAA’s late-season snapshot — the top-ranked team from each of the 22 conferences and the 26 next highest-ranked teams. The latest RPI shows strength for the Big East, ACC and Big Ten. It’s a weak year for the Pac-10, and the CAA has fallen sharply. For Soccer America’s projected 48 and conference rankings …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Women’s Conferences
Villanova and Rutgers, both postseason candidates, won Big East Tournament first-round games on Thursday. Binghamton and Stony Brook advanced in the America East. For all the weekend conference tournament games …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Division I Men’s Thursday Results
Frank Patano‘s hat trick gave him 14 goals for the season and led Butler to a 3-0 win over Wright State in the Horizon League regular-season finale for both teams. For all Thursday’s scores …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Division I Women’s Thursday Results
UNC Greensboro completed a perfect 10-0-0 regular season in the Southern Conference with a 3-0 win over Elon, which it will meet again Sunday in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. William & Mary (CAA) and Ball State (Mid-American) claimed their second consecutive regular-season conference titles with wins. Kellie Jenkins led the Tribe to a 4-1 triumph at Old Dominion with a pair of goals. Ball State knocked off archrival Miami (Ohio), 2-1, on Sarah Schumacker‘s golden goal. Senior Stacey Thompson scored to help lift red-hot Cal State Fullerton to a 1-0 victory over UC Irvine, its fifth consecutive win, and clinch the Titans’ berth in next weekend’s Big West Tournament. For all Thursday’s scores …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America Women’s Top 25 Results & Schedules
No. 1 UCLA, which is closing in on its fifth straight Pac-10 title, hosts Arizona State and Arizona. No. 3 Portland will clinch its ninth WCC title and claim the first NCAA Tournament berth if it wins at Pepperdine on Sunday. No. 4 North Carolina, which has wrapped up the ACC regular-season title, hosts No. 7 Virginia Friday night to kick off Homecoming Weekend. For the complete Top 25 results and weekend schedules …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America Men’s Top 25 Results & Schedules
This weekend’s three matches involving Top 25 teams are all intriguing. UC Santa Barbara hosts Cal Poly Saturday in a rematch of their earlier Big West match that Cal Poly won, 1-0, before a record crowd of more than 7,000 fans. Two other matches feature teams headed in opposite directons. No. 21 Maryland looks to extend its eight-game unbeaten streak against No. 18 Virginia, which has just one win in six ACC games. No. 11 Michigan State, which has lost two in a row, welcomes No. 22 Ohio State, unbeaten in seven games, on Sunday in a key Big Ten match. For the complete Top 25 results and weekend schedules …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
WEEKEND PREVIEW: International Soccer Headliners
The recent form of Arsenal and Manchester United has fans salivating about Saturday’s clash of EPL co-leaders at the Emirates Stadium. Tensions are high in Italy, where Juventus and Inter Milan meet Sunday for the first time since Juventus was relegated in 2006 and Inter was awarded Juve’s league title in the aftermath of the Calciopoli scandal. In Spain, Sevilla hosts La Liga leader Real Madrid in Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez‘s third tough test in a week since taking over as for Juande Ramos. In Germany, young Dutch star Rafael van der Vaart should be back in the lineup for Hamburg against Hertha Berlin amid renewed speculation of a move to Spanish club Valencia.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Will Dallas play Texas hold ’em?
The 1-0 first leg may have been decided by a rather fluky goal, but for much of the game FC Dallas bossed the midfield. To overcome that one-goal deficit Houston must take command in the middle third so Dwayne DeRosario can slice forward to take cracks at goal and thread through-balls, and Brian Mullan can provide quality service from the flanks.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Red Bulls must overcome Revs’ home history
New England hosts New York as the Revs go for their sixth straight appearance in the conference final. The omens are stacked – if such a thing is possible – high against the Red Bulls, who played spiritedly yet somewhat disjointedly last Saturday in the Meadowlands and couldn’t break through against a determined midfield and defense. The Revs are 6-0-3 (14-5 goal differential) in playoff matches at Gillette Stadium since it opened in 2002, and they reached their first final that same season. New York hasn’t won at Gillette in more than five years, a span of 12 regular season and playoff games.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Hobbling Chivas USA must overcome Wizards’ lead
Kansas City finished tied with Chicago for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, and can take heart from what the Fire did against top seed D.C. United,: Win at home, tie on the road, see you in Texas (against either Houston or Dallas). Kansas City takes a slim 1-0 edge to Home Depot Center and faces a Chivas USA whose forward tandem of Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo has been hit by injuries.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
United burned by Fire yet again
In the end, the defensive frailty of D.C. United – not its ouchy attackers – knocked it tumbling out of the playoffs for the third straight season. A pair of preventable goals staked Chicago to a 2-0 lead at RFK Stadium, and a furious D.C. rally tied the game, 2-2, which for the Fire was good enough. A 1-0 win in its home leg Oct. 25 provided a 3-2 aggregate upset of the league’s top team during the regular season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Equipment manager killed by lightning in Italy
Antonio De Giorg, the 41-year-old equipment manager for Italian Serie B club Lecce, was killed after being struck by lightning at the end of a practice at the team’s stadium Thursday. He had collected equipment and was headed toward the locker room when he was struck.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
OFF THE POST: Brazilian brawl reignites at airport
Players from Brazilian teams Atletico Paranaense and Gremio fought during and after Paranaense’s 2-0 win on Wednesday night, and the next day at the airport, delegations from the club brawled. Paranaense director Mario Cesar Petraglia said he was reading the newspaper while waiting for his flight to Sao Paulo when members of the Gremio relegation attacked him. He reportedly suffered a lost tooth and a swollen face. Gremio representatives, who were on their way to home to Porto Alegre, said Petraglia’s security men were involved in the fight.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Carlos Valderrama wigs out
Former Colombian star Carlos Valderrama, assistant coach of Atletico Junior, was ejected from a game against America of Cali for implying the referee had been bribed by waving cash in front of him after a penalty kick call. After the penalty kick provided a goal that helped end Junior’s playoff hopes, Valderrama, a former MLS star, rushed the field, waved a 50,000 peso ($25) bill, and swore at referee Oscar Julian Ruiz, who later said, “Carlos is my idol, but his behavior really surprised me.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chicago’s Diego Gutierrez named Humanitarian of the Year
Chicago Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez has been voted the 2007 U.S. Soccer Foundation-MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Year. Gutierrez, 34, supports more than half-a-dozen organizations on a national, regional, and local level and has helped raise more than $1 million collectively for worthy causes in 2007. Gutierrez an active role in the fight against malaria, serving as a national spokesperson for the Nothing But Nets campaign.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Delayed justice for accused ‘diver’ in Italy
A two-game ban on Napoli striker Marcelo Zalayeta for diving during a 3-1 win over Juventus was overturned after new television evidence showed he had been clipped by Juve defender Nicola Legrottaglie before falling over onrushing keeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Chivas’ Galindo May Miss Game Two, Too
Chivas USA had a wonderful regular season, finishing first in MLS’ Western Conference, but L.A.’s other club faces mounting injury problems that could curtail its playoff challenge. Chivas is already without veteran forward Ante Razov due to a long-term injury, and now Maykel Galindo, the club’s top scorer during the regular season, looks set to […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
United Searches for Playoff Form at Home
D.C. United may have one of MLS’s best records over the past four seasons, losing only 12 times, but its regular-season success has failed to translate to the playoffs over the last two years. Tonight, United is again faced with the prospect of its MLS Cup hopes ending at home as it hosts Chicago in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
‘Roger Federer’ Slams Valencia
It’s a good thing for Bernd Schuster that Real Madrid absolutely demolished Valencia Wednesday, because prior to the match, the Real coach gave reporters a thorough tongue-lashing after it was suggested his team had been under-performing. Schuster told them he’d “love a job like yours where you get paid for insulting people, despite not having […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Guzan, Parkhurst Claim MLS Awards
The first of Major League Soccer’s end of season awards is in, with Chivas USA’s Brad Guzan winning Goalkeeper of the Year, Michael Parkhurst of the New England Revolution taking home the MLS Fair Play award, and the Columbus Crew earning the MLS Team Fair Play award. The awards were voted on by members of […]
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Women’s Conferences
Tournament play begins Thursday in the Big East and America East. Villanova and Rutgers, both NCAA Tournament teams in 2006, may need wins to keep their 2007 postseason hopes alive. For this week’s women’s conference tournament schedules …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Division I Men’s Wednesday Results
St. John’s moved into first place in the Big East’s Red Division thanks to a 3-1 win at Syracuse on Wednesday. Colombian transfer Omar Alfonso disappointed an Orange crowd of 1,049, the four largest at the SU Soccer Stadium, with two goals for St. John’s. Vermont stunned America East leader Binghamton, 2-0, thanks to quick goals by Jordan Crasilneck and T.J. Gore, leaving just two points between the top seven teams in the standings with one game to play. For all Wednesday’s scores …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
NCAA Division I Women’s Wednesday Results
Two goals by Annie Phillips, her 16th and 17 of the season, gave Kennesaw State a 3-1 win over Mercer that clinched the Owls’ second straight Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season title. For all Wednesday’s scores …