Category: Story

French champion Lyon began its bid for a record seventh straight league title with a 2-0 win over Auxerre. League action began in Argentina, Mexico and Scotland. For all the results …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Oguchi Onyewu scored the winning goal in Standard Liege’s 4-1 win at Zulte Waregem to open the 2007-08 Belgian First Division season. For news on Americans in Germany and Mexico …

U.S. Under-17 men’s national team coach John Hackworth has named the 21-player roster that will represent the USA at the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup Aug. 18-Sept. 9 in South Korea.

Argentina’s 2007-08 season begins Friday with the opening game of the Torneo Apertura. San Lorenzo won last spring’s Torneo Clausura. Boca Juniors, winner of the 2007 Libertadores Cup, is the favorite, though it begins the season without star Juan Roman Riquelme, who returned to Spanish club Villarreal, which owns his contract. Promoted Tigre has signed former U.S. U-17 and U-20 goalie D.J. Countess, who is believed to be the first American-born and -raised player to sign with an Argentine First Division team.

Celtic and Rangers — no surprise — are the runaway favorites in the Scottish Premier League, which kicks off Saturday. Celtic won a league and cup double last season but faces a fight from Rangers under veteran manager Walter Smith, who took over in mid-season. Celtic paid a Scottish record for Hibernian and Scotland midfielder Scott Brown: 4.4 million pounds ($8.9 million). Rangers made a number of summer signings, including that of American winger DaMarcus Beasley.

A narrow-angle goal by the birthday boy and a stoppage-time clincher by his substitute separated the top two Eastern Conference teams at Gillette Stadium Thursday. Pat Noonan celebrated his 27th birthday by tucking away a Taylor Twellman header, and Adam Cristman ran onto a sweet Steve Ralston cross to notch his fourth goal of the season as the Revs (9-3-6) beat Kansas City (8-6-5) for the first time at Gillette Stadium, 2-0.

[MLS Weekend Previews] Two more crucial Eastern Conference showdowns are on tap; Houston, Los Angeles, and D.C. United get back to MLS business after advancing to the SuperLiga semifinals; FC Dallas hopes to get well against Colorado after being smacked for six goals by the Galaxy; and the barmy BMO believers beckon to Becks.

The 2007 W-League final four begins Friday in Rochester, N.Y., with the semifinals at PAETEC Park. The Seattle Sounders (8-4-1) and Atlanta Silverbacks (11-2-1) will kick things off at 5:30 pm ET, and the Rochester Rhinos (5-7-0) and top-seeded Washington Freedom (14-1-1) will follow at approximately 8:00 pm. Both games will be available on www.USLlive.com. The winners will advance to the W-League final, which will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel on Sunday at 5:30 pm ET. Here’s the final four teams at a glance.

Eric Lichaj never played for the University of North Carolina, suffering from a broken foot, but that didn’t prevent English club Aston Villa from signing the 18-year-old defender to a two-year contract and assigning him to its academy program.

Mexico kicks off the Torneo Apertura — the opening of its two-stage season — this weekend. Both its 2006-07 champions — Guadalajara and Pachuca — are coming off play in the SuperLiga against MLS clubs, where they showed off their American talent — Jesus Padilla for Chivas and Jose Francisco Torres for Pachuca. MLS veteran Daniel Hernandez is back for a second stint in Mexico, this time with Puebla. A third American — Noel Castillo — debuted in the Santos first team in preseason. Here’s a look at each club’s offseason moves and its American connections.