U.S. under-15 girls national team coach Tad Bobak has named a 23-player roster for the Nike Women’s Friendlies Sept. 20-23 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The U-15s, all born in 1992, will play matches against U-17 club teams from across the country.
Category: Story
U.S. U-14 girls to play first competitive games
The U.S. under-14 girls national team will play its first ever competitive matches at the Nike Women’s Friendlies Sept. 20-23 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. It will give U-15 head coach Tad Bobak an early chance to evaluate the players, all born in 1993, in game competition.
USL First Division moves into playoffs
The USL First Division begins its playoffs this weekend with four quarterfinal series. The top-seed Seattle Sounders face the expansion Carolina RailHawks. In other series, the No. 2 seed Portland Timbers meet the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps. The Montreal Impact plays the Puerto Rico Islanders, while the Atlanta Silverbacks and Rochester Rhinos square off in a battle of No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. The second game of the Portland-Vancouver series will be televised Sunday at 8 pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel. Fans can also catch USL playoff action on usllive.com.
German star Prinz unhappy after 11-0 win in Women’s World Cup opener
Defending champions Germany set a Women’s World Cup record when it beat Argentina, 11-0, for the biggest rout in the history of the tournament, but three-time World Player of the Year Birgit Prinz was not satisfied.
MLS Statistics (through Sept. 10)
D.C. United’s Luciano Emilio has pulled ahead in the MLS goalscoring race. He now has 18 goals, four more than New York’s Juan Pablo Angel and Kansas City’s Eddie Johnson.
Namibia and Zambia sneak into 2008 African Nations Cup finals
Namibia and Zambia qualified for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana with wins over the weekend. Captain Chris Katongo scored a hat trick in the opening 20 minutes to lead Zambia past 2010 World Cup host South Africa, 3-1, in Cape Town and capture Group 11 on the final day of qualifying in the group. Namibia won Group 10 when it beat Ethiopia, 3-2, on the road, coming back from 2-1 down in the last minutes on goals by Rudolph Bester and Muna Katupose. The Democratic Republic of Congo appeared to have the group wrapped up, but it was held to a 1-1 tie at home by Libya. For all the finalists …
New formula to Chicago’s Toyota Park deal
As a condition of the purchase of the Chicago Fire by Andell Holdings, AEG has relinquished all interest in Toyota Park as well as the team, and the financial formula under which the team’s ownership and the Village of Bridgeview operate has been revised.
Understanding Sponsorship Basics
As a club, league or other grassroots soccer organization designing corporate and business sponsorship proposals, be aware these terms are different.
Lalas: No Excuses Galaxy Disappointment
It’s no surprise we haven’t heard much from the Los Angeles Galaxy now that the media hubbub surrounding David Beckham’s sprained left knee has died. After all, Becks may be out of the picture for the rest of the season and the team is unlikely to make the playoffs. In fact, a kind of “weary […]
London and Milan, A Tale of Two Cities
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune paints a tail of two cities in his review of the weekend’s Euro 2008 qualifiers. London and Milan are two of the world’s biggest soccer cities, Wembley and the San Siro two of its temples. Both stadiums have played host to some historic matches; on Saturday, both hosts […]
Ronaldo to Miss Another Month
Just two weeks after announcing to the public just how glorious the return of the original Ronaldo would be, AC Milan doctors have revealed a startling miscalculation of the severity of the striker’s thigh injury, which will now keep him from making his season debut until next month. The perennially injured Brazilian legend was supposed […]
U.S. Strategy in a Quandary
J Hutcherson of USSoccerPlayers serves up a critical review of the U.S. national team’s strategy (or lack thereof) in the wake of its 4-2 loss to Brazil on Sunday. He says that this team has proved to be at its strongest in and in front of goal, in central defense and midfield. “It gets dicey […]
Soccer On TV
The USA opens its Women’s World Cup campaign on Tuesday, against North Korea. European Championship qualifying continues on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Mexico plays Brazil in a friendly. The Chivas USA-Galaxy clasico takes place on Thursday.
Soccer America Women’s Top 25
Santa Clara, which crushed former No. 2 Notre Dame, 7-1, at its annual adidas Classic, took over as the new top-ranked team in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25. Stanford, the winner of the Santa Clara tournament, jumped seven spots to No. 3, behind North Carolina.
Soccer America Women’s Top 25 Weekend Results
It was a tough weekend for top-ranked women’s teams. All top five teams either lost — Portland, Notre Dame (twice), Texas A&M and Texas — or were tied — Santa Clara. For complete results and goalscorers in Top 25 action …
Soccer America Men’s Top 25 Weekend Results
UCLA, the preseason No. 1, has still yet to score after settling for a 0-0 tie at Creighton Saturday before a record crowd of 5,812. For complete results and goalscorers in Top 25 action …
Soccer America Men’s Top 25
Wake Forest remained No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 rankings for the second week in a row. Connecticut and Indiana both climbed five places each to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Seven unranked teams moved into the Top 25.
Santa Clara women pummel Notre Dame
So much for the Santa Clara women being thin up front The Broncos inflicted a 7-1 defeat on Notre Dame Friday night at their Santa Clara adidas Classic. The seven goals were the most Notre Dame has ever allowed in a game and were two more than it allowed during the entire 2006 regular season.
ACC powers take it on the chin
Last week began with ACC teams ranked 1-2-3-4 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25, but only No. 1 Wake Forest emerged unscathed. Duke was tripped up by Villanova, 1-0, on Friday. Virginia got a rude welcome from SMU on its first trip to Texas in 20 years, falling, 5-1. Maryland fell at home to West Virginia, 1-0, on a goal 35 seconds into overtime.
Castillo & Santos roll on in Mexico
[AMERICANS ABROAD]. Santos Laguna thumped Club America, 4-0, to remain the only unbeaten team after seven game days in the Apertura 07. Santos’ U.S. product Edgar Castillo went the full 90 for the seventh straight game.
Nigeria wins third U-17 World Cup
[AWARDS] Nigeria won its third U-17 World Cup title by prevailing on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie with Spain. The Nigerians also lifted the title in 1985 and 1999, matching Brazil’s three titles. Germany, which had eliminated the USA in the round of 16, took third place with a 2-1 win over Ghana.
Euro 2008 Qualifying Results
Germany, Croatia and Romania were the only group leaders to win their Euro 2008 qualifiers on Saturday. France and Poland stayed on top in their groups thanks to ties on the road. Sweden’s 0-0 tie at home with Denmark was enough to keep it in first place in Group F. Idle Greece stayed on top in Group B
WINNERS & LOSERS: Euro 2008 Qualifying
Steve McClaren‘s patch-work England squad captured its must-win showdown with Israel. Strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Miroslav Klose came up big for the Netherlands and Germany, respectively. Keeper Ricardo‘s blunder cost Portugal two points. The Italy-France game in Milan was marred by an ugly display by San Siro fans.
Fire boosts playoff cause; D.C. United rules East
[MLS WRAP] Chicago boosted its playoff chances with a win in Columbus. Denilson scored his first MLS goal in FC Dallas’ 2-0 win over woeful Toronto, whose league record scoreless run hit the 732-minute mark. Nate Jaqua hit a hat trick for Houston in its 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake. And in another barn-burner, D.C. United downed New England, 4-2, to add to its first-place lead over the Revs in the East as Luciano Emilio upped his league-leading scoring tally to 18 goals. Los Angeles ended an eight-game winless streak with a 3-1 win over Colorado. Chivas USA remains unbeaten at home after a 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.
Ronaldinho touch dooms USA
Rarely does a losing team believe the scoreline did it justice, but after the U.S. fell to Brazil, 4-2, at Soldier Field in Chicago, a case could be made that the Americans deserved better.
